


Hak'tar

by MrProphet



Series: The Cassandra Chronicles [4]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 15:26:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10744467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrProphet/pseuds/MrProphet
Summary: Casualty – for the benefit of American readers – is the UK's answer to ER; or perhaps vice versa. Running since 1986, it features good-looking medics dealing with the intersection of ongoing personal traumas and swiftly-resolved medical crises in a busy London Accident and Emergency department. Each week starts slowly, with day-to-day hospital life juxtaposing with shots of assorted civilians, all begging to have a nasty accident as some of them inevitably will. 'Spot the victims' is a favourite game for social watching.There is in fact no Holiday Inn at Cardiff International, but never mind, eh.





	Hak'tar

_Llantisilly,  
North Wales_

Cassandra Fraiser stood up and stretched, driving a fist into the small of her own back in an attempt to release the knot of tension that was building there. She had been crouching over for the past three hours, painstakingly peeling the earth from a curved piece of metal with a leaf trowel and a pastry brush. It had been incredible, watching a faint gleam in the soil transform before her eyes into a golden torc. When she came across a find like this, she could quite understand the passion for archaeology which Daniel and Llew shared, but it was merry hell on the spine.

"Okay to come down?"

Cassie looked up and smiled. Silhouetted against the late afternoon sun, Llew Midhir smiled back down at her.

"Mind your feet," she cautioned, gesturing to a patch of clear earth on which he could stand.

Llew stepped carefully down into the trench. He laid a hand on Cassie's shoulder and pressed the other into her aching back, moving his fingers gently to rub away the worst of the tension. Cassie gave a soft moan and leaned back into his touch, laying her head back onto his shoulder with a languid sensuality that was only marginally spoiled when the brim of her Anzac hat hit him in the face. Llew smiled, pushed the brim aside and clipped it into place. He leaned close and kissed Cassie's neck.

"Hey! Guys! Get a room, you."

Cassie and Llew moved apart, grinning stupidly as the backs of their necks flushed bright red. Phyllis Trevellyan looked up at them from the skeleton she was excavating and shook her head in mock despair. "Do you think you two lovebirds could spare a though for those of us whose boyfriends are in Carmarthen."

"Sorry, Phyl," Cassie said, failing to meet the brunette's amused gaze.

"Sorry," Llew murmured. He cleared his throat and turned to Cassie. "So; what've you got?"

Cassie crouched down again; Llew stepped around and over the torc and knelt facing her. "Oh," he whispered, running his fingers through the air just above surface of the metal. "That is beautiful."

"Definitely my best find so far," Cassie declared.

"What about the ogham stone you found last week?"

"But that was just a bit of rock," Cassie said. "This is...Well, it's...shiny...isn't it?"

Llew smiled, fondly and said with absolute sincerity: "Yes, it is very shiny."

Cassie's face fell. "Not as good as the rock?"

"But shinier."

Cassie frowned, patiently.

"Sorry. Yes; there are a lot of gold relics, but ogham stones dating back past the fourth century are few and far between. This is beautiful; that was – archaeologically – sublime."

"Where as I'm – archaeologically – a Muppet."

Llew smiled, kindly. "I think you've got enough out that we can have a go at lifting this," he suggested. "Have you got a find number for it?"

"Logged and plotted," she assured him, pulling a finds bag from her pocket.

"Paper and computer?"

"Yes," Cassie assured him. "Phyl will have no reason to get upset with me again."

Phyllis gave a rude gesture. "Computer modelling a site like this is tough enough, without people leaving finds plots off the database."

"Have you thought about reading the finds book?" Cassie suggested, playfully.

"You can laugh," Phyllis said, "but digital simulation is going to change the face of archaeology as radically as..."

"...as the steam engine changed the face of industry!" Llew and Cassie completed Phyllis' oft-repeated claim in chorus, and as she had suggested, they did laugh.

"Luddites," Phyllis muttered.

*

Dinner, as usual, was Karen's treat at the Queen's Twin, the pub where the three of them were staying. The Queen's Twin sat beside the post office at one side of Llantisilly Common, the sprawling stretch of green land where the diggers were excavating a 3rd century Celtic village. Across the common the village shop and a small petrol station completed the quartet of services. The rest of the town consisted of a cluster of private residences and three farms. The archaeological team had been invited by a local heritage society, and the diggers were being housed by the members of the society, two or three students at a time lodging with sweet old couples who force fed them huge quantities of mutton. Cassie suspected that in part they were being allowed to dig up the common so that the aging population of Llantisilly had some more young people for them to fuss over and fondly disapprove of.

The Queen's Twin was an old building, with warped wooden beams and an overhanging upper storey, decorated with rustic landscapes and the stuffed body parts of dead animals. This lynchpin in the social life of Llantisilly had belonged to the family of the landlord, Ellis the Bar, for generations. The old man spoke, at length, and to anyone who would listen, of his hopes that it would be passed down to his daughter Enid and her husband, when she got around to finding one. Llew and Cassie suspected that Enid harboured dreams of fleeing to the 'city' – trading Llantisilly's quaint charm for the bright lights of Ffestiniog – and only kept her peace for fear of her father's state of mind.

Local gossip – one field of industry in which Llantisilly was truly blessed – held that Ellis had almost killed himself during his daughter's 'phase', which Cassie understood from Enid to refer to a brief period of sexual ambivalence in her first term at Aberystwyth University. The prospect of an old age without grandchildren and a Queen's Twin run by a lesbian couple had apparently been too much for him. Ellis laughed such suggestions off now, but clearly a scar had been left. Despite being the only source of booze for miles, the male students on the dig were wary of the Twin. It was one thing for to enjoy a quiet drink over an inoffensive ogle at an attractive barmaid; it was quite another when the landlord was actively inviting them to leer at his daughter.

Cassie and Llew were staying in the pub instead of a private house, but the bills were being split between the Llantisilly Heritage Society and the project budget, as handled by Karen Aughisky, the excavation coordinator. Cassie liked Karen, a college friend of Daniel and Annie Midhir. She was unconventional, relaxed, and nothing if not friendly, but more importantly, for all her love and knowledge of Celtic culture, she was American. After three weeks in rural Wales, it was nice for Cassandra to have someone she could relate to, culturally and linguistically.

They were eating their dinner in the main bar by the seizure-inducing flicker of electric candlelight, and Llew watched Cassie, concerned, as she picked with a melancholy air over the remains of her steak and ale pie. He reached across under the table and took Cassie's free hand.

"If you don't have anything vital on tomorrow, I'd like the two of you in number two trench," Karen said. "We've found something big and I could use some more steady hands."

Llew nodded. "My trench is tapped for this level," he replied. "How about you, bach?"

Cassie looked up and smiled, hiding her sadness behind her eyes. "I've nothing on," she agreed. Under the table she hooked her foot around Llew's. "Digging is good," she added, distractedly.

"Uh-huh," Karen said. "So if you're ready at five o'clock, we'll get you on the bus and have you sold into slavery by lunchtime."

"Yeah," Llew said.

Cassie nodded. "Sound's...What?"

They drew away from one another again.

Karen smiled, affectionately. "Up at the usual time, my loves," she said. She stood up and stretched. "I'm going to bed. You two behave, now; don't do anything I wouldn't do. Goodnight."

"'Night," they mumbled, red-faced.

"You want to go for a walk?" Llew asked.

"Okay," Cassie agreed.

*

Karen watched from the young couple from the stairs. She went to her room where, unable to deny her concerns, she fired off an email and waited. While she waited, she looked at herself in the mirror, ruefully counting the silver streaks in her black hair. Cassandra and Llew could be good company, and she enjoyed the presence of a fellow countryman as much as Cassie did, but they were so damnably _young_.

The telephone rang and Karen hurried to answer with the alacrity and excitement of a teenager. "Good evening, Karen."

"Good morning, Daniel darling," she replied. She stretched her rangy frame back across her bed and toyed idly with a strand of hair, while she allowed his voice to wash over her like a bath of warm milk.

"Is anything wrong?" Daniel asked, concerned. "Is Cassie okay?"

"Cassie's fine, at the moment; I'm just a little worried about them. Things are getting pretty heated here in Llantisilly."

"I take it you don't mean the weather? I'm surprised _you_ have a problem with that," Daniel remarked. "With your history..."

"Yes, yes," Karen sighed. "We're both _intimately_ acquainted with my history, darling; parts of it, anyway. But I've changed since then and besides, this isn't about me. There's a shadow lying over Llew and Cassandra."

"Well, yes," Daniel replied, less than blown away by Karen's insight. "Cassie's just lost her mother. That tends to cast a shadow."

Karen winced at the harshness in his tone; the pain that still haunted him after twenty-five years and more. "I know that," she said, softly. "But I'm worried about the further implications for the two of them. They're a sweet couple, Daniel, but there's a darkness there and it could get ugly. Llew's trying to pretend that he's not hurt so he can be strong for Cassie, but they're both in pain."

Daniel sighed. "Of course," he said. "Isn't that why they're over there with you?"

"Yes; but Daniel, something has to give! _Something_ will happen between them, but it's as likely to tear them apart as bring them closer together. Come on, darling; you must have realised that this would be a pretty delicate time in any relationship, even if they weren't a pair of over-stressed, hormonal depth-charges?"

"So...What are you talking about, Karen? You'll have to explain; unlike you I've never claimed to be psychic. Well, except that one time with the candle, but I was wrong."

Karen was a little taken aback, but kept her mind on the matter in hand. "I'm talking about pain, Daniel. Something we both know a little bit about, if you remember."

"I appreciate your concern, Karen," Daniel assured her, gently. "We do all feel better for knowing that you're watching out for them, but you have to understand: These kids aren't fragile. They've been through a lot, and they're stronger than I can imagine."

"Not without each other," Karen warned. "They _need_ each other, and it's their relationship that's at a crisis point. I'm telling you, there's a darkness..."

"Karen," Daniel interrupted. "Could you give this while 'darkness' thing a rest, please; just speak English."

"Darkness _is_ English," Karen snapped. "You don't understand, Daniel; you never did. You don't know darkness the way I do."

"You'd be surprised," Daniel replied, with a tiredness that resonated in Karen's breast.

"Daniel?"

"What?"

"Do you need to talk about something?" Karen asked, fiddling nervously with the phone cord.

"No, Karen," he replied, warily. "Thank you, but no."

"Daniel! I'm not like that anymore. I'm not going to treat your angst-filled confession like a dirty phone call."

"Really, I'm okay with it." Daniel sounded a little embarrassed.

"As long as you're sure, darling."

"If you're really worried, I can come out there," Daniel told her.

"Worried about you or worried about Cassie?"

"Cassie," he assured her. "If you think she needs someone she knows, then I'll come; but I think she needs the space."

"Agreed," Karen sighed. "Probably for the best that you stay out there, more's the pity. I just thought...well, that someone should know."

"Thanks, Karen."

"Yeah. No problems. Oh; and Daniel...?"

"Yes."

A lazy smile spread across Karen's face. "What are you wearing?"

"Goodnight, Karen."

*

Llew and Cassie strolled out through the beer garden of the Queen's Twin and took the back gate which led to the hill path. Eventually, this winding trail led over the rolling, sheep-strewn hills to the neighbouring town of Llanilly, seven miles away, but first it passed through a thick-grown copse of trees, known locally as Arthur's Wood. It was a favourite place for courting couples, Ellis the Bar had told them, adding that there were few of those in Llantisilly these days. Llew had suggested that Ellis was secretly mourning his fast-fading hopes of one day catching Enid sneaking out through the garden in the middle of the night.

A short way into the wood, they stopped and sat beneath a large, spreading tree. It was dark and quiet under the canopy, but the shadows of the copse almost seemed to vibrate with a sense of _life_. In the pale light of the moon, Cassie could see that many couples had stopped here over the years, carving their initials in the bark as an indelible reminder of what was most likely a rather transient emotional attachment. In Cassie's limited experience, those truly in love did not express their devotion by defacing the local flora.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Cassie mused, snuggling tight against Llew's chest. "What does that cover, do you think?"

"Not much, coming from Karen," Llew admitted.

"Was she really a devil worshipper?" Cassie asked.

"No. She was a Satanist before she turned her pentagram point up; it's not really the same thing, though. Common-or-garden Satanism has as much in common with your actual diabolic worship of the unholy as modern druidism has with...well, anything really. It's all about personal freedom; refuting authority, releasing your mind from the bounds of conventional morality and getting drunk and nekkid on a regular basis, really."

"Huh. Bit like archaeology, then?"

"Something like that," Llew laughed. "Anyway; she converted to paganism some time after college."

"Did your mother convert her?"

"No; mother and I are Asatru, and a specific branch of that. Karen is more of a generic neo-pagan. She doesn't really worship anything as specific as gods. That was when she became Karen Aughisky. She was born Karen Sanders, went through a brief period of calling herself Karrie Brimstone, then changed her name officially to Aughisky; which is a kind of treacherous, equine water spirit."

"Funny choice. But enough about Karen," Cassie said.

"Quite," Llew agreed, then he kissed her.

Cassie leaned up into the kiss, enjoying the moment. Her grim mood had lessened now, and she was all the better for no one asking if she was alright. She was grateful to Llew for saying nothing, but then that was one of the upsides to an empathic boyfriend: He never had to bug you by asking how you felt. He always knew, and he knew if you wanted him to say anything or not. There was nothing that Cassie hated more of late than well-meaning sympathy.

Cassie could have kicked herself, then, when she just could not stop herself asking: "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good just at the moment," Llew sighed, hugging her tightly. "I just..."

"What?"

"I kind of wish someone would come and interrupt us," he admitted, sadly.

"Oh, God," Cassie whispered, appalled. "Oh, Llew; I'm so sorry, baby. I never thought..."

"Shh," Llew whispered, laying a finger on her lips as his tears started to fall.

Cassie kissed his fingers, tenderly, and gripped his hand in hers. "I sometimes forget I wasn't the only one who loved her; that I'm not the only one who misses her."

"'S'okay," Llew told her. "I understand."

"I know. I just...I shouldn't have asked."

They sat together a while longer, but the moment had passed. The moon went behind a cloud, they got up and walked back down to the pub. They kissed goodnight at Cassie's door, and then they went to their own beds.

*

Cassie and Llew were up early that morning. With some difficulty, Cassie wheedled an early breakfast from Enid – it might have been easier for Llew to do it, but Cassie felt a jealous sting every time Llew spoke to an older girl – and they walked down to the site to look at number two trench.

"So what are we excavating then?" Cassie asked.

"Well, that's the question isn't it," Llew replied, cryptically, looking down into the trench. To date it was about a metre deep, two across and five long, the sides set with strings and plumb lines for stratigraphy drawings. "The rest of the site appears to be a pretty standard Celtic village, notable principally for being abandoned very suddenly. There's evidence of widespread burning, sometime around AD 287, then nothing."

"Except the standing stone," Cassie remarked.

"Yes. The standing stone."

The Llantisilly Stone was what had attracted Karen's excavation in the first place. One of the heritage society's leaders had contacted her through a mutual acquaintance in the Most Ancient and Noble Order of British Druids regarding the stone and its mythological prominence, and Karen had jumped at the chance. She had been convinced from the first that there was something uncanny about the stone, and both Llew and Cassie knew just what she meant. A mere four feet high, there was nothing imposing about the size of the sarsen stone, but what it lacked in height it more than made up for in presence. The squat mass of grey sandstone sat brooding in the heart of the common, radiating a kind of cold menace that most of the students seemed oblivious to but which made Cassie shiver each time she looked at it.

She was looking at the stone now, and Llew wrapped his arms around her as the shiver came.

"Do you think we should be doing this?" he asked, whispering softly into her ear.

"What does it mean?"

"Wish I knew. It doesn't feel hostile but...there's something forbidding about it."

Cassie nodded. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," Llew admitted. "But I do wonder if we should be digging here. What if it's a warning?"

Cassie shivered again. "Do you think it is?"

Llew did not have to look away from the stone to sense the fear in Cassie. He could not bear for her to be like that; not when she had been through so much of late. "No," he said. "If it was, it would have something written on it. Maybe it's a site of sacrifice; or perhaps what we're feeling is the fear from the fire that destroyed the town. Who knows?"

They stared at the stone in silence for a few more minutes, then Cassie turned her eyes back to the trench. A canvas tent spread over them, but last night's dew had penetrated the ground and turned it dark. Now the water was seeping or evaporating away, the dirt paling once more; all but an oblong of soil which remained darker.

"You said 'the rest of the site'? What's different about this trench?"

"The burning debris was cleared here," he said. "After the fire, they cleared this area, moved that stone down from the mountains and put it here to mark something they'd buried."

"That something," Cassie said, pointing to the oblong.

"That's it," he agreed. "Could be a coffin. Although in the first fortnight of the dig they found a body in this trench; a warrior in full battle dress by the look of him. Funny thing to do; putting a body on _top_ of a coffin."

"There's something down there."

"Not very deep, either. There's nowhere for the water to seep to; that's why the soil doesn't dry as quickly."

"No," Cassie replied, stepping down into the trench. "I mean...There's some _thing_ down there." She crouched down and laid her hand on the rectangle of damp earth. "Don't you feel it?"

Llew frowned. Usually he was the one who sensed things, but he could feel nothing; the stone still exuded its sense of watchful malice, but the ground was just cold and inert. He looked at Cassie, and he knew that she really did sense something, but it was something that was hidden from him, completely. That made him feel a little sad. In his eyes, Cassandra was more than just the most beautiful girl he had ever met. She had a strength and a power inside her that awed him, and his own abilities made him feel that he was important enough to deserve her. This was all nonsense, he knew, but that he could not detect this presence meant that he was a little less worthy.

"Babe?" Cassie asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, bach," he replied. "I'm fine. I can't feel anything down there though."

"Really?" Cassie looked surprised and a little disappointed. "I guess I must be imagining things."

"Don't say that," he told her. "I'm not infallible you know. If you say you feel something, I believe you." He took her hand. "Do you want me to call Daniel? Get them to organise...Well, whatever kind of thing that can organise in Wales to deal with dangerous aliens."

"No," Cassie replied. "I don't think there's anything bad down there. Just...something. I'm quite excited to see what it is, really."

Llew nodded, uncertainly. Cassie did not seem to be pretending, but he still felt a sense of unease. He tried to move his concerns to the back of his mind, telling himself that perhaps it was just the aura of the standing stone making him afraid.

"Come on," Cassie said. "Let's get back to the pub so we don't freak Karen out. We'll get started on this soon enough."

*

On the first day, Karen and her crew worked slowly down through the floor of the trench until they uncovered a golden, metallic sheen. Llew felt a frisson of fear, but it quickly became clear that the buried object was not made from gold-plated naquadah, but of bronze. Most of the top was visible by the time they broke for the evening, and Phyllis measured it and took photographs with her digital camera before they call it a day. Cassie lingered behind to stare at it while the others went to wash up for dinner.

"There's something odd about it." She shivered.

"You okay?" Llew asked.

Cassie looked at him quizzically. "Don't you know?"

"No," he admitted. "You seem..."

"Weird?"

"Um..."

"I feel weird," she said.

Llew folded her in his arms. "So is this what you sensed?"

Cassie nodded, and frowned at the oblong of slightly tarnished bronze. "But...What _is_ so strange about it? There's something bugging me, I just can't..."

"No marks," Llew said.

"There are," she replied. "It's all scratched."

"No. I mean there's no ornamentation. Like the stone, it's completely plain." He shook his head, confused. "This is a work of metal-crafting unparalleled in the period, but having created it they left it without any ornamentation."

"Doesn't that usually mean that you want to lock something away and forget about it forever?" Cassie asked.

"Sometimes. But whatever you're feeling, it doesn't seem to be scaring you?"

"No." Once more, she jumped down into the trench. She knelt beside the object and laid a hand on it.

"Anything?"

Cassie shook her head. "No." She stood, dusted off her combats and climbed out of the trench again. "I don't know. I don't sense anything now. What do you think it is?"

"I think it's a container of some kind," he said. "It's the right size for a coffin, but that's supposition. We'll see more of it tomorrow."

 

The next day they took mattocks to the edges, widening the trench and digging down around the object. After a few inches they stopped, and carefully trowelled the earth from the object's side. Like the top, the sides were unmarked.

"Look; this _is_ a lid," Llew said. "There's a seam, but it's been sealed with...it looks like molten tin or lead."

"That can't be a good sign, surely?" Cassie asked.

By the end of the day, four inches of side were exposed. By the end of the next day they had dug down almost two feet, and on the day after that they reached the bottom and fed a leather cradle underneath the coffin – as it was almost universally known by now – so that they could lift it out of the ground. The coffin would then be transferred to the lab at Carmarthen University to be x-rayed and analysed before they even considered opening it.

"Eight foot, by three by three," Llew mused. "Large for a casket, but not excessive."

"Not likely to be pleasant when they open it," Phyllis noted.

"Why not?" Cassie asked. Llew regretted having spoken.

"Sealed metal caskets don't break down; there's no spaces or cracks or porous walls to let fluids and gases escape," Phyllis explained, with a sort of morbid glee. "When you open them up you tend to find a sort of corpse soup that..."

"Phyl!" Llew snapped. Cassie just turned away, gagging.

"Sorry," Phyllis said, sincerely. "I didn't mean..." She looked at Llew, shrugged apologetically and shuffled away.

"Sorry, bach," Llew whispered, rubbing the muscles between Cassie's shoulder blades.

Cassie slow straightened up and composed herself. "I'm okay, babe," she assured him. "But that girl needs to find a hobby."

"That _is_ her hobby."

"Then she needs to get laid or something. We should club together and buy her boyfriend a train ticket."

Llew dropped his hand to circle Cassie's waist and she gave a soft sound of displeasure. "Don't stop," she said. He smiled and carried on rubbing the tension out of her muscles. She let her head roll happily to-and-fro, eyes half closed. Quite a crowd had gathered to watch the lift and a number of them were staring, but Llew and Cassie did not care.

The crane was brought up and anchored, then the chains were attached to the hook and the lift began. Slowly, the cradle was pulled taught and the coffin began to lift into the air.

"It's beautiful," Cassie breathed, as the afternoon sun caught the burnished metal and made it glow red-gold.

"Yes," Llew agreed, but he was distracted by a commotion of some sort over at the crane. The driver clearly had some kind of problem. He was shouting at his boss, who was shouting at Karen, who in turn was motioning urgently for them to set the casket back down.

Llew turned to look at the coffin; at the chains supporting it. They were good, sturdy chains, but as he looked up the leather cradle tore. There was a crack like a whip, and suddenly the coffin was falling free of its supports and plunging towards Llew and Cassie.

With reflexes that were a little more than human – Thor be praised – Llew caught Cassandra around the waist and threw them both sideways. The bronze coffin struck right where they had been standing, tearing a great gash in the earth. Its momentum carried it right out of its sling, up on end and then over, crashing back towards them. Again Llew pulled them both out of the way, and the deadly weight smashed down where they had been a second before. At this impact the seal cracked and the coffin broke open; just a short way, but enough for a quantity of fine, golden sand to pour out over Cassie's outstretched forearm.

Horror washed over Llew, a wave of sickening, psychic dread unlike any he had ever felt before, but in a moment it was gone. His relief that Cassie was unharmed, and the sudden noise of the panic-stricken crowd pushed all else from his mind.

He pulled Cassie close and she clung to him. Their hearts were pounding against each other from fear and excitement; blood hammered in Llew's ears with a deafening pressure.

"Oh, Cariad," he murmured, pressing his cheek to hers and kissing the side of her face.

"Baby," she whispered, doing the same. They clutched at each other, moving only enough for their hands to confirm that nothing of each other had been broken or otherwise seriously harmed.

"Cassie! Llew!"

At the sound of Karen's frightened voice, they slowly began to emerge from their shock. They kissed one last time, their lips brushing together, then drew apart and turned to face Karen. It was almost physically painful for Llew to draw his skin away from Cassandra's, and by the fierce grip she kept on his left hand, he knew she felt the same.

"Are you alright?" Karen asked.

Cassie nodded. "It missed us," she affirmed. "Got something on my hand, but that's all."

"Oh, God," Karen muttered. "Oh, what a total balls-up. Phyl! Get that cop over here; he can run them into hospital. Put up a fence around the area until we can get this stuff checked out."

"Hospital?" Cassie asked. "Checked?"

"If it's a coffin there could be a biohazard," Llew explained. "I'm not sure it was, though. It was just full of this sand; that's why it was heavier than we thought."

"God. Daniel's going to kill me," Karen muttered. "If the university don't do it first." She looked up as the Llantisilly constabulary – PC Mike Rhys – hurried over. "You two go with Mike," she said. "We'll get this mess cleared up as best we can. We'll need to do something to stop that sand blowing around in the wind. You'll see their taken care of?"

"Don't you worry now, Dr Argosy," said the constable, a naturally cheerful, red-faced man who – like many people – had great trouble with Karen's adopted name. She might have held it against people more had she not spent a week calling Mike 'Constable Rice'. "Bad business this, but no harm done, eh?"

"I hope not," Karen agreed.

Mike reached down and helped Llew to his feet. "I thought the two of you were for it, lad," he admitted. "That was some quick thinking; and quick moving." He slapped the younger man encouragingly on the shoulder, then left Llew to help Cassie up himself.

 "Where is the nearest hospital, anyway?" Cassie asked.

"The medical centre at Pentwyth," Mike replied. "It's twenty-five miles, but don't worry; we'll have you there in no time at all."

As the policeman led the two youngsters away, Karen turned back to her broken find. _If only the driver had said something sooner,_ she thought, wearily. She frowned for a moment, then shook her head. _Must be getting soft in my old age_. When the coffin burst, she had been sure that the sand was golden, glittering in the sunlight. Now, although the sun still fell strong and full on the common, it was plain to see that it was the red-brown hue of rust.

*

Cassie sat, staring fixedly at Llew, while the doctor – a young woman named Banerjee, with an Asian face and a thick Welsh accent – gave her a cursory once over for signs of internal injury. She knew that Llew usually disliked hospitals – places filled with death and sorrow to his preternatural senses – with an intense passion. Today he did not seem to notice, he just gazed back at her, his face mirroring her own lazy smile.

 _Tonight_ , she thought to herself. _It's going to happen tonight_. Three times so far she had anticipated the imminent consummation of their relationship, and three times she had been disappointed. This time would be different; she was determined to follow through on the desire that they both felt. The first time had been when Llew came for her after her mother's death. She had been certain, but he had shied away from her. Cassie had been deeply hurt at first, but slowly she had realised that he was right; it would have been the wrong time and for the wrong reasons.

Tonight the grief seemed a long way away. When the coffin fell she had seen her short life flash before her eyes, and that brush with death had left her purged of grief and regret, possessed only of a powerful joy in being alive.

 _It will happen tonight_. She willed Llew to sense her thoughts, and she was sure that she saw his smile deepen in response. _Nothing can stop it._

"This looks nasty," Dr Banerjee said.

_Damnit!_

 The doctor pressed her gloved fingers gently into the skin of Cassie's arm, which had turned red and raw like a half-healed burn. Cassie gasped in pain.

"Gods," Llew whispered. "Cassie...?"

"It must have been the sand. I didn't even see it come up."

"Nor did I," Llew replied, baffled and concerned.

"I think we should keep you in overnight, Miss Fraiser," Dr Banerjee said. "It may be nothing, but if this was a biological contaminant..."

"Must I?"

"I'd be more comfortable. Don't worry; your medical insurance is more than enough to cover you. The administrator loves it when we admit Americans," she added, conspiratorially.

"Alright," Cassie sighed, with a regretful glance at Llew.

The doctor followed her gaze and gave Cassie an understanding wink. "We'll have you out as soon as possible," she promised.

Cassie blushed, and awkwardly nodded her head. "Stay and get me settled?" she asked Llew.

"As long as they'll let me," he replied. "I'd get them to admit me too, but I doubt they'd be happy with a malingerer taking up a bed just to be near you."

Dr Banerjee nodded her agreement. "I'm afraid heartsickness is not a recognised medical condition," she confirmed, regretfully. "You can stay for a little while, then come back to see her in the morning."

"Thanks, Dr Banerjee," Cassie said, dutifully.

The doctor smiled. "Call me Gladys," she said.

_*_

Llew was listless over supper that night. Karen had no need to ask what was wrong and so she did not. Instead she told him about the coffin, which had now been carefully righted and covered. Since the lid had broken off, she and Phyllis had taken the opportunity for a look at the inside; being careful not to touch anything.

"It's no wonder the crane broke," she said. "The coffin wasn't just packed with sand, it was lined with an inch of lead, inscribed and inlaid with silver."

That piqued Llew's interest. "Inscribed? On the inside?"

"Odd, isn't it," she said. "But it gets better. We got a bit of a look inside and it looks as though there're bits of cloth and jewellery showing through the sand. At a guess from the style, I'd say we have a 3rd century, female body; assuming there's a body in there at all."

"Sealed in a lead-lined coffin, inscribed on the inside but not on the outside, and buried in an unmarked grave?"

"Apart from the stone."

"Yes." Llew got to his feet.

"What's wrong, Llew?"

"Nothing," he lied. "I just...I need to go for a walk."

 

Llew stopped off in his room for a jacket and his toolkit, then walked out onto the common. Underneath a newly-erected tent he found the coffin, wrapped in plastic. Llew ran his hand over the wrapping, but he still felt nothing; no sense of foreboding or menace. He took a deep breath and pulled on a pair of latex gloves.

With deliberate care, Llew unwrapped the outer layer of the plastic. He opened his toolkit, took out his knife and slit open the remaining layers. Using his leaf trowel, he scooped out a small quantity of the sand and tipped it into the plastic tube that was supposed to receive his urine sample for the follow-up appointment in the morning. He wiped his tools thoroughly on the grass and packed them away, then he pulled the outer layer of wrapping back over.

The sample tube went into an envelope with a scribbled note, then into _another_ envelope which he addressed to Major Samantha Carter, NORAD, care of the 10 th Tactical Fighter Wing at RAF Alconbury. He had initially thought of sending it directly to Cheyenne Mountain, but in retrospect he had shied away from posting something that might well be alien anthrax overseas.

He swung by the post office and dropped the envelope into the box, then rapped politely on the door of a house which had no number, but which was called 'Bluebell'. The sound of loud voices came from within, but no-one responded to his knock. He looked for a doorbell, but finding none he knocked again. After a few moments, the door was opened.

Phyllis looked startled to see him. "Llew," she said. "I thought you were in Pentwyth?"

Llew shrugged. "Nothing wrong with me. They've kept Cassie back, but I'm too poor to be ill."

"Do you want to come in?" Phyllis offered.

"Thank you. Will your host mind?"

"Mrs T? I doubt she'll notice."

Llew entered the house. While Phyllis closed the door, he peeked into the living room, where Phyllis' widowed landlady sat at a writing desk. The voices he had heard from outside blared, fuzzily from a clapped out old transistor radio and the old woman listened intently, and occasionally stopped to write on her pad.

"I think she's been having a kind of postal love affair with Radio 4, ever since her husband passed on," Phyllis explained.

"You sure she's okay with you having guests in?"

Phyllis stuck her head into the living room. "Mrs T!" she hollered. "I'm taking a male friend up to my room to have noisy sex and bring shame and scandal upon your respectable household! If you wish to invoke the wrath of the WI against me, now's the time!"

The old lady made no response of any kind.

Phyllis shrugged. "I think she's cool." She grinned. "Why, Llew; you've turned bright red. For a free-spirited pagan you can be a real prude, you know."

"And for a Christian scientist you can be...a bit much, Phyl."

"I'm a Christian and an archaeologist," Phyllis replied, primly. "The computers are a sideline; I'm not really a scientist, let alone a Christian Scientist."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Phyllis laughed again. "You're cute when you're defensive. Go on up," she suggested. "I'll get some tea."

Llew walked upstairs, feeling awkward and embarrassed. He knew that there was a genuine attraction behind Phyllis' flirtation – her boyfriend in Carmarthen not withstanding – and that made him uncomfortable. He had never known quite what to do when women flirted with him; with the exception of Cassandra. His own awareness of their sincerity – or lack thereof – made him feel like he was taking advantage of these women in some way.

He had known Phyllis for a couple of years now. The young student had worked with his mother, Angharad, on several occasions; her computer models of the dig sites had been a valuable tool for Annie and good ancillary material for Phyllis' thesis. He had entertained a certain attraction towards the suave, worldly-wise undergraduate back when he was a callow fifteen year old, but that was before the fateful dig in Nova Scotia; before Cassandra. Phyllis' feelings for him were more recent, but hopefully no less transient.

Phyllis had established herself in the spare bedroom at Bluebell. The china dolls and miniature churches which had once littered the windowsill and dressing table had been packed onto the top of the old oak wardrobe to make room for her computer equipment. Her postgraduate thesis was targeted around developing the art of computer modelling in archaeology and so her grants had paid for a massive array of bleeding-edge hardware. Computer; satellite modem; scanner; printer; digital cameras, still and video. All-in-all it was the kind of set-up that would have turned Sam Carter green with envy. She had tried to amaze him with the technical details once, but Llew remained most in awe of the fact that there were no wires – besides the power cables – in the entire set-up.

Tonight, however, it was something else that seized Llew's attention. On the screen of Phyllis' trim, powerful laptop a wireframe, oblong cuboid swung perpetually through an arc from horizontal to vertical, then back to horizontal, pivoting on its end. Each time it jumped back to its starting position, the motion it traced was slightly different, and each track was recorded as a series of faint echoes of the shape itself. To the right of the screen two figures stood in an oasis of calm, which the pivoting cuboid never touched.

Llew stared at the screen in horrified fascination.

"Oh, sorry," Phyllis said, entering the room behind him. She shoved a tea tray into his hands and shut down her simulation, hastily hiding the frozen image of the falling coffin, captured for posterity on digital video.

"Phyl?" Llew's voice demanded an explanation.

"I was filming the lift. When I looked at the footage afterwards, it just...It looked _wrong_ ," she admitted. "I studied the ground it hit and the way it fell. I set up the simulation to try and see how it could have toppled as it did, but I'm more positive than ever that the coffin never should have come _near_ you."

"Shame no one told it that."

"I'm not being morbid," she assured him. "I just had to know. Something isn't right there, Llew. I know you don't think much of computer modelling, but this simulation proves that the coffin did something baldly against the laws of physics."

Llew felt suddenly cold. He set down the tray and clasped his hands around his mug for warmth.

"Are you okay?"

"A poltergeist just tried to kill Cassandra," Llew replied. "How do you think I feel?"

"Sorry. I know it's silly."

Llew did not think it was remotely silly, but Phyllis would probably be happier never knowing that this was not such a crazed notion. His own mind was consumed by fear, wondering what it would bode for Cassie if what seemed an accident had been a deliberate assault; that was a fear that Phyllis did not need to share.

"What can I do for you?" Phyllis asked, gently.

"You took photographs of the inscriptions inside the lid, yes?"

"Of course. We can't interfere with the coffin until the toxicology results come back, but that's no reason not to work on the translations."

"Quite," Llew agreed. "Could I have a copy of the photos, please?"

"Of course."

Phyllis opened a file on her computer and a selection of images popped up on screen. Slowly, the printer began to run off high-definition copies of the images, and they sipped their tea while they waited. "Is she alright?" Phyllis asked at last.

"She's had some kind of reaction to the sand," Llew replied. "Otherwise she...she seems okay," he concluded, trying to hide his gnawing fears.

Phyllis sighed. "You know, Llew; sometimes I wish you had met Cassie before you met me."

"Eh?"

She gazed at him, wistfully. "Well; that way I'd know that I never had a chance."

Llew looked up at Phyllis. Her aura flickered, like the dance of light shivering off water; a sure sign of a troubled spirit.

"Problems with the boyfriend in Carmarthen?"

"I...kind of get the feeling he isn't missing me as much as I miss him; if you get my meaning. Just something about the way he talks on the phone."

"Why not go down to visit him?"

"Too busy," she replied. "And Andrew's too busy to visit me, of course."

"Hitting on me won't help, you know."

Phyllis smiled. "I know. I just wonder, sometimes, what would have happened if I hadn't blown you off on that dig in Yorkshire."

"I was fifteen," Llew laughed. "If you hadn't blown me off, Mam would've gone ballistic. We would have been digging _you_ up from that burial chamber."

"Probably true." The printer stopped and Phyllis handed him the pictures. "Here you are. Enjoy." She got up and walked him down to the door. Her landlady ignored Llew's shouted farewell.

"Thank you, Phyl."

"No problem, Llew. If there's anything else you need, just let me know."

"Thanks. And Phyl..." Llew turned in the doorway.

"Yes?"

Llew laid a hand on her shoulder. "Take a break. Pop down to Carmarthen while we wait for the toxicology reports."

"I'll be okay," Phyllis assured him. "But while we're giving advice: I know you're worried, but don't stay up all night with those. You need your sleep. Goodnight, Llew."

"Sleep well, Phyl."

*

Sister Yorath Jones had been a nurse for five years. She was a grounded, sensible young woman, not given to imagining things, and so when she heard a rattling noise in the corridor she was immediately concerned. As she followed the sound, she felt the floor beginning to shake. Ahead she saw a light filtering under one of the ward doors; not the soft, blue-white glow of the gentle ward lights, but a yellowish flicker, almost like flame.

With rising panic, Yorath hurried down the corridor. She placed a hand on the door, but felt no heat. She took a deep breath, seized the door handle – which was also quite cool – and shouldered the door open.

The light vanished. The shaking stopped. In her bed, Cassandra tossed and turned, restlessly, but there was no other disturbance within the room.

Yorath frowned, confused. There was no fire, not even a light. Yorath was glad that she had not sounded the fire alarm needlessly; that kind of mistake could end a career. She crossed the room to Cassandra's bedside, felt her forehead, and finding it cool she drew the blankets back over the girl's sleeping form. Yorath left the room, quietly closed the door, then rubbed her eyes, wondering if she might not be a little over-tired, before continuing with her rounds.

Fearing for her position should her state of mind be called into question, Yorath said nothing of what she had seen.

*

Karen drove Llew out to Pentwyth the next morning, and the morning after that. Both times, the boy strained at his seatbelt, pressing against the window in his impatience as the car cruised along the shore of Pentwyth lake towards the medical centre.

"I'm sorry if my driving is too slow for you," Karen said. "I suppose you drive like your mother?"

"No; faster."

"That is not possible," Karen declared, having experienced Annie Midhir's driving first hand. "That woman does something to the aerodynamics of cars; it's unnatural."

"Hmm."

"Is something bothering you? Something besides Cass?"

"No."

"You're just normally more...expressive than this." Karen waved her hand in front of Llew's face. "Llew?"

"Didn't sleep so well," he admitted.

"Poor lamb. Don't worry; we're almost there."

"Hmm."

Karen shook her head, ruefully. "Oh, to be young – younger – and in love."

 

Llew tapped on the door and leaned his head around. Cassandra was standing by her bed, wearing her pyjamas. She smiled at the sight of him.

"Hey," Llew said.

"Hey, baby."

Llew went in and they hugged. The gesture was unusually awkward, and for once Llew fell back on waffling small talk to cover for his discomfort while he tried to discern what was wrong. "They say they're letting you out," he noted, rather pointlessly, since they both knew that already.

"Yep."

"How's the hand?"

"Good." There was a short pause. "You look tired."

"Yeah. I was looking at shots of the coffin last night and...I didn't sleep so well, even after I'd managed to drop off."

Cassie suddenly became very nervous. "Bad dreams?" she asked, failing to sound very casual.

"I...um...Not _bad_."

"But...?"

"Intense."

"Was I involved?"

Llew nodded, his face turning pink.

Cassie forced a wobbly smile. "So what...ah...happened."

Llew's face moved on to a kind of purple colour.

"Oh! No; I don't mean the gory details, just..." Cassie coughed, awkwardly. "What was the...theme?"

"You mean...?"

"The setting."

"Oh. Well it was kind of...Arthurian."

"Sounds corny."

"No. It was rather authentic-looking actually. Not that I was paying much attention to the décor," he admitted. "It was all rather overwhelming."

"I know," Cassie whispered, stepping a little closer to him.

"You...do?"

Her voice dropped to no more than the sound of a breath. "I had the same dream, Llew. Exactly the same dream." She laid a hand on his hip and drew him close to her. They kissed.

"Does that door lock?" Cassandra asked, breathlessly.

Llew was taken aback. "Cassie...?"

Cassandra kissed Llew again. "Lock the door, Llew!"

"They...They need to get you out of the room," Llew protested. "They won't leave us alone for long."

"So...we'll have to be quick."

With a titanic effort of will, Llew pulled away from Cassandra. "No," he said, with an utter lack of firmness.

Something dangerous flashed in Cassie's eyes; something dark, hungry, furious, and utterly un-Cassandra, that was gone so fast that Llew was sure he must have imagined it. Her voice, when she spoke, was reasonable; amused even. "Poor Llew," she laughed. "I'm just pulling your leg."

"That's not my leg."

Cassie coughed, embarrassed. "Sorry, babe. I guess I got a little carried away."

"You're upset."

"No, I...Of course. You know just how I feel."

Llew hugged Cassandra tightly. "I'll never know precisely how you feel," he assured her. "But I _do_ know that I upset you and I'm sorry. It's just that...not _quick_. I want the first time to be special."

A shadow seemed to fall over Cassie's face. "What makes you think it's my first time?" she demanded with a sneer.

Llew stumbled as though struck. This was more than just being unlike Cassie; it was almost _anti_ -Cassie. He tried to discern what could have caused her to act this way, but it was as though his distress had blocked his sensitivity and he just could not tell.

"Oh God," Cassie whispered. The shadow was gone and her face was suffused with horror. "I didn't...I'm sorry, Llew. I don't...I don't know why I said that. Really, I don't."

After a moment's hesitation, Llew put his hand on Cassie's arm; she was shaking with fear. "I know," he said. "Let's get out of here, eh?"

"Yeah," she murmured. "Do you...I was going to ask if you want to take a look around Pentwyth before we go back," she offered, weakly. "Seems a nice place and..." She hung her head. "I thought it would be a chance to get some time alone. I'll understand if you don't want to..."

"It sounds like a great idea," Llew assured her.

"You're sure? I know I shouldn't have..."

"If something's wrong, we'll get to the bottom of it," he promised. "I already sent a sample of that sand to Sam. If there's anything up..."

"There's something, isn't there," Cassie realised.

Llew sighed. "I can't hide much from you, either," he mused. "Phyl thinks that somehow the coffin was directed at us. And, lest we forget, we seem to be sharing dreams now. I've always felt close to you; in tune somehow, but this is different. It's frightening. And...exciting," he admitted.

Cassie shivered. "Amen; on both levels. Let's get out of here, eh? It's a lovely day, and I could use a drink."

"Sure," Llew agreed. "I brought you a change of clothes."

"Thanks."

"I'll wait outside while you change."

"Sure. Oh; Llew!" she called, as he was about to leave.

Cassie made a vague motion at around waist height. "If Karen's out there waiting for us, you might want to do your coat up, babe."

*

By dinner time, Llew was feeling lost, confused and frightened. From the day of his birth, Llew's world had been defined not by five senses but by six, all of them preternaturally acute. Having grown up with the tiny machines which swarmed and multiplied in his blood granting him an uncanny awareness of other's psychic state, he had never really considered how much he took that awareness for granted. Sometimes, he had even been arrogant enough to think that he might be happier without it.

Now, however, his second sight was failing him, and he felt vulnerable.

He noticed it first at the hospital. Cassie noted that the ward sister who was going off duty as they discharged her looked uncomfortable. She was right, Llew realised, but he had not sensed it. Robbed of the sight, he was clearly a less skilled judge of people than he liked to think.

During their exploration of Pentwyth, Llew had found Cassie unreadable. Ordinarily he felt her emotions almost as though they were his own, but she was as much a blank to him now as the nurse had been. To make matters worse, Cassandra's mood remained mercurial, bordering on schizophrenic. She vacillated from coy and kittenish to cold and unapproachable, by way of a smouldering, infectious lust that seemed to seize her uncontrollably from time to time. Llew knew that something was wrong with Cassie, but found himself unable to tell what that was.

But there was a deeper fear that troubled him, or rather two.

The first was his paranoid worry that, without the insight which marked him out from other men, he would lose Cassandra. Since he had learned of the source of his abilities, he had often feared for the implications. He wondered whether he was Llew Midhir, or if he was a product of the Asgard nanites which gave him life, and he wondered what he would be if he did not have those tiny machines in his blood. Would he still be someone that Cassie could love if he were _ordinary_?

Of course he knew that such thoughts were uncharitable, but what was he to make of Cassandra's odd behaviour then? He might almost have thought that she knew of his frailty and was teasing him, but he knew her too well to suspect her of such cruelty.

At any rate, his second fear was altogether more reasonable and more pressing. He feared that the loss of his sixth sense heralded some greater calamity befalling his nanites, and when the life had been returned to his infant form his fate had become bound up with theirs. If his nanites died, so would he.

If only Cassie had been herself – or perhaps, if he could have seen the cause of her behaviour – he could have talked to her, but as it was he did not want to burden her; not if she might be suffering herself.

 

At dinner, both Llew and Cassie were subdued, and Karen could not hide her concern. There was nothing she could do, however; neither would respond to even the most polite and tentative queries. The only sign either showed of responding to anything came when Llew suddenly sat bolt upright, eyes wide with alarm.

He refused to give any explanation of himself when Karen asked, and she resolved to contact Daniel that very night.

*

After dinner, Llew and Cassie went out to the woods again. They walked in a tense silence, not strolling like lovers but hurrying as though they were desperate to get somewhere.

"Cassie..." Llew began, once they were hidden under the trees.

Cassie's face was flushed with excitement. "Yes?"

"It was you, wasn't it? I felt you touch me, but..."

Cassie smiled. "My powers have returned," she confirmed. "But it's different now. I can feel them; understand them. I have complete control of them; see." She held out her hand and Llew felt himself lifted into the air. A sensation like caressing fingers brushed over his skin, every inch of it.

"Cassie, stop," he whispered.

"Why?" she asked.

"Your power has always hurt you in the end," he warned. "Nirrti forced it to develop too fast; your mind is capable of far more than your body can support."

"Not this time, my love." She opened her arms and he drifted into her embrace.

They kissed, their passions rising, and Cassie's power enfolded them both. They were bound together in that telekinetic grasp, lifted up and tumbled around. Llew felt dizzy, confused and aroused. He clung to Cassie with a mixture of fear and desire. Llew could barely believe that this was happening.

"Believe it," Cassie whispered.

Llew kissed her again, forcing down his fears, although he was more certain that ever that he did not deserve anyone so incredible.

"Don't be ridiculous. How could you think..."

They pulled away from one another with a sudden jerk; Cassie's mental grip slackened and they both crashed to the ground.

"Cassandra!"

"You...You said that out loud," Cassandra insisted, unconvincingly. "About not being worthy. Didn't you? Baby?" She sounded so frightened that Llew could not help but take her in his arms to comfort her.

"I didn't," he assured her.

"Then I...I just..." Cassie's body stiffened in horror and she pulled away from him again. "Dying?" she cried, and Llew needed no nanites to recognise the horror which had gripped her.

"I don't know anything for sure," Llew said, consolingly.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Cassie demanded. "We have to call Sam. We have to find out..."

"I'm not the one we need to worry about, bach," Llew replied. "You're reading my mind without even meaning to; your powers are coming back..."

"I can't lose you Llew!" Cassie screamed. "Don't try to protect me; from this, from anything. Don't make me watch you die. Don't leave me _alone_!"

Llew's face fell. "Oh God, Cass," he whimpered. "I'm sorry. I'm just...useless without my sight. I feel so..."

"You're not useless," she assured him. "Just scared. Come on now, babe. Let's go back to the pub and we'll call Sam."

*

Cassie set the phone down with an air of relief.

"That was fast," Llew noted.

"She was already packing," Cassie replied. "Apparently Karen called Daniel earlier this evening and spooked him so much he went straight to General Hammond. They've got themselves released from duty and they're on their way."

"Thank the gods," Llew sighed. It felt so good to know that their friends were coming, when just a few days ago they had been enjoying their independence. "So...what do we do until then?" he asked. "Is there anything we can do while we wait?"

Cassie shrugged. "Apparently the sample was express couriered out to Sam from the airbase. She's almost finished her initial tests. They got the email with the coffin photos for Daniel to work on. I don't know if there is anything else."

"Phyl," Llew realised.

"Phyl?"

"Phyl's computer model."

"Eh? Is this really the time to think about the dig?"

"She's running a computer model to test her theory about the fall. She wants to see if there's any way, any set of variables which could account for the coffin toppling towards us."

"Well; let's take a look then," Cassie suggested, eager for distraction.

 

The young couple jogged across the common to Phyllis' lodgings.

"So, if there _was_ some interference with the coffin, what does it mean?" Cassie asked.

"I wish I knew," Llew admitted. "Maybe...maybe something will spring to mind, but it's all more information that we can give to Sam and Daniel when they gets here."

"At least she's up," Cassie noted, nodding towards the lighted bedroom window. She frowned at the flicker of shadows which played against the blind. "Is...Is she alone?"

"Maybe her boyfriend did come up from Carmarthen after all."

A strangled cry floated out from the window.

Llew froze in horror.

Cassie began to run towards Bluebell. "Come on, Llew!" she shouted.

Her voice galvanised Llew into action and he ran with her to the door. Cassie was already pounding on the oak panels, demanding entry.

"She's deaf!" Llew said. He threw himself against the door. The wood shuddered and he staggered back, clutching his shoulder in pain.

"Stand back," Cassie said. She laid a restraining hand on Llew's arm, then stretched out the other hand towards the recalcitrant portal.

After a moment, the door began to shudder. The wood creaked, the screws on the hinges and handle began to spin anti-clockwise, unscrewing so fast that they flew from the door like sling stones. With a crack, the door split in two and toppled inwards to land in the hall.

Llew was stunned, but once more Cassie dragged him onwards. They dashed down the hall, past the living room where the landlady had at last looked up from her writing desk, and up the stairs. Cassandra did not even bother _trying_ the door of Phyllis' bedroom; instead she simply reached out with her will and twisted the entire locking mechanism free of the wood.

"Oh gods!" Llew exclaimed.

The room was strewn about by the wreckage of her computer systems and the shattered remains of Mrs T's collection of china knick-knacks. Phyllis lay on the floor beside her bed, clutching her throat. Blood oozed between her fingers, and stained the floor that lay around her. She looked up at them with horror and terror in her eyes.

At once, Cassandra dropped to her knees beside Phyllis and reached for her bloody neck. "Call an ambulance!" she screamed. "Llew; get the doctor! Get a doctor!"

As Llew ran, Cassie struggled to pull Phyllis' hands away from the wound. Phyllis struggled, beating weakly at Cassie and protesting in a gurgling, incoherent voice.

"Phyl! Calm down, Phyl. I have to see...Let me..." With a grunt of impatience, Cassie exerted her will and dragged Phyllis' hands back, pinning them beside her head. The blood oozed freely, and Cassie examined the wound with as much clinical detachment as she could muster. It was a ragged tear, the skin and flesh torn by a mess of broken, porcelain shards.

Cassandra looked around and her eyes settled on Phyllis' tool kit. She reached out her hand and the bundle sprang to her hand. She quickly unrolled it and took out a knife. The blade was clean and oiled; Phyllis was a stickler for neatness. Cassie fished in Phyllis' pockets for her lighter, and ran a flame over the edge of the blade.

Phyllis gurgled in fear, struggling helplessly in Cassie's psychic grasp as the younger woman leaned towards her. Phyllis' eyes were locked on the blade of the knife.

"Hold still," Cassie warned. She reached out, and drew the knife across Phyllis' throat.

_*_

Llew had hoped to slip quietly upstairs on his return to the Queen's Twin, but Enid deftly intercepted him, weaving through the gossiping crowd with the unconscious grace of the professional bartender. She did not delay his exit from the main bar, where he was afraid at any moment to be recognised as a major player in the evening's drama. Instead, she caught his arm and guided him out into the kitchen area. Llew let himself be led; Cassie might get jealous of the barmaid, but Llew was well aware that her affection for him was more sororal than amorous. Of course, he could no longer be certain of that, but it had certainly been the case before he left the Twin that morning.

"What's the matter?" Llew asked, hating the fact that he had to ask. "Is Cassie...?"

Enid smiled, supportively. "She's well, right enough; as far as anyone can tell. She won't come out of her room still, and she won't let anyone in to take her food. She's got to eat though, Llew. Or have a little something to drink at least. Won't you take her something? She'll listen to you, I'm sure."

"Of course," Llew agreed. So, he took the heavy tray which Enid had prepared and went up to Cassandra's room.

"Cass," he called softly. "Cass; please open the door."

After a long moment, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Brought you a little bit to eat," he said.

"A little?" Cassandra asked. She looked at the laden tray in his arms and gave a wan smile.

"I'll give you a hand with it if you want," Llew offered.

"Thanks," she replied, and stood back to let him through.

Llew set the tray on a table and they sat, facing each other. Cassie looked drawn and incredibly tired, and there was a haunted light in her eyes, but after a moment she took a spoonful of casserole and began to eat.

"Is she...?" she began, and then stopped.

"She's going to be alright," he assured her. "Although they don't know if her voice will ever recover. Her throat was pretty badly mangled."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, feebly.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Llew assured her. "Dr Banerjee – Gladys – said that if you hadn't done what you did, there would have been little chance of Phyllis getting to the hospital alive."

Cassie's face brightened, almost imperceptibly. "But the paramedics..."

Llew shrugged. "Apparently the untrained idiot who tries to perform a tracheotomy with a biro because he saw it on Casualty is a bit of an urban myth in their line of work. They weren't to know you had a decent idea of what you were doing."

"I...I didn't, really," Cassie admitted. "Mom did explain once how much more complicated a tracheotomy was than cutting someone's throat and sticking a pen in, but she never told me how to do it or anything."

"Then how...?"

"I could just _feel_ it. It was as if I were aware of every molecule in Phyl's body at once, and I knew just where to cut and what I had to do. I was even using my powers to hold back her blood loss, open her windpipe a little...It was so scary, and then when the paramedic shouted at me..."

"He was very apologetic," Llew assured her. "He's going to send you some flowers, I think."

"So...I did good?"

"You saved a life. I can't think how anyone could have done better."

Cassie looked her lover in the eye and saw uncertainty there. "But...?"

"But, Gladys also said that it was pretty obvious that the wound was self-inflicted. There probably wouldn't have been anything you could have done, except that broken china is an imperfect weapon at the best of times." He shook his head, guiltily. "I knew she was upset – some trouble with her boyfriend – but I must not have been able to see how badly it had hurt her. If I'd stayed with her a little longer last night; if I'd treated her more like a friend and less like a resource..."

"I don't know about you, babe," Cassie whispered, "but what I heard this evening was not the sound of suicide. That was a struggle. And look at her computers: Even if she was desperate enough to take her own life, she'd never have done that to them. They were her life's work."

"Perhaps something went wrong with the models and..." Llew sighed. "But no; that wouldn't have thrown her like that. She was too much of a pragmatist. You must be right; but how could anyone have attacked her, then got out of the house without us seeing them?"

"I don't know. Unless..." Her face grew pale.

"Cassie?"

"Well; unless the attack was _psychic_ in nature. If someone were able to attack her mind; to make her harm herself."

"But who could..." Llew's eyes widened in alarm. "No!" he snapped. "No, Cassandra; you can not think that. You would never harm someone. Not without cause, I mean," he added, warily; Cassie had after all caused considerable harm to Nirrti when the Goa'uld had threatened them.

"I had a cause," Cassie replied. "She was after you, Llew."

"So what? You know I wasn't interested in her."

"Yes, you were," Cassie said, her eyes widening in revelation. It was clear that she had never before been aware of this.

Llew sighed, fondly. "Not for years, Cassandra. But it doesn't matter anyway, because you wouldn't do that. I know you too well to even think that, Cassie."

"Then what?"

"I think there was something in that coffin, Cassie," he said. "Something malevolent. Perhaps Phyllis was on to something that would reveal it and...I'm reaching," he admitted with a sigh. "But we _will_ find out; once SG-1 arrive."

"Yes," Cassie agreed. She pushed away her empty plates, then stared at them for a long moment. "Wow. I guess I was hungrier than I thought. Thank you for that, babe."

Llew smiled. "Enid insisted. I think she's kind of...adopted us."

"Does that mean we inherit the pub?"

Llew smiled to see this flash of Cassie's old spirit. "We can but hope."

Llew reached out and gently touched her cheek. Cassie leaned her face into his palm with a happy smile, then gave a cavernous yawn. Llew fought it, but could not help echoing the sound.

"I think we could both use some sleep," Cassie suggested. "Been a long day."

"Yeah," Llew agreed. "I'll take the tray down." He leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Goodnight, bach."

 

Llew woke in the middle of the night. His skin was slick with sweat, his hands shaking; his mind was filled with fevered images of Cassandra. Feeling awkward and guilty, he rose unsteadily to his feet, wrapped himself in his dressing gown and shuffled down the dimly-lit corridor to stand under a freezing cold shower for ten minutes.

As he returned to his room, Llew saw that the light in the passageway came from beneath Cassie's door; a golden, flickering glow like firelight. Forcing his weary limbs into rapid motion, he rushed to the door, but even as he reached for the handle the glow vanished as though it had never been there at all.

Llew shook his head in confusion. He tried the handle but the door was locked, and there was no response to his gentle knock. After a moment, when he was more-or-less sure that there was no fire beyond the door, he reluctantly shambled back to his own bed. He was asleep within minutes, and once more he dreamed of Cassandra.

*

In the morning, Llew woke to find Cassandra sitting at the foot of his bed.

"Morning, babe," she said, brightly.

"Cassie?"

She looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow. "Dreaming about me again?"

Llew sat up and pulled a pillow onto his lap. "How...How did you get in here?" he asked, disconcerted.

"Worked the lock," she replied. She held out her hand and Llew's hairbrush flew into her hand; she reached out with the other hand and his deodorant leaped from the dressing table. She flipped these two items into the air, and they began to spin in the air in front of her without further interference from her hands. "It's getting easier still," she explained, drawing Llew's razor and shaving gel into the mix. "Coordination, power...It's all coming to me. And it isn't just telekinesis, either. I can sense every mind in this building..."

"Cassie!"

"I'm not reading them," she assured him. "I just know that they're there. I can _feel_ them."

"That's...good."

Cassie's face fell. Llew's toiletries tumbled to the bed and the floor. "Oh, God; I'm so sorry, Llew. I didn't mean to rub that in. I know your sight will return, babe, and I'll do anything I can to help you."

"It's alright," he assured her, forcing a smile.

"No. I know you're worried; I'm worried as well. I don't want to lose you."

"You won't. I swear."

"I just..." Cassie's head snapped up and she smiled brightly. "They're here!"

"They...? They are?"

"I can see them," she said. "About fifteen miles away now. SG-1; Annie; and...Someone else. Someone I _can't_ see." Her face set in concentration. "I can't see..."

"Oh my gods," Llew whispered. "You can see that far."

"Not really, but I can see _them_ , if you get my meaning. Are you alright?" she asked.

"It's just a lot to take in, Cass. Telekinesis, telepathy, ESP."

"And this," Cassie added. She held out her hand, palm up, then blew gently over it. Flames flickered across her hand, burning without fuel in the cup of her palm.

Llew shivered. "That's very impressive, Cariad," he said. "But...It's all getting disturbingly Dark Phoenix now, don't you think?"

"Hmm." Cassie closed her eyes. Her body lifted from the bed and she floated nearer to the head of the bed before settling on top of the sheets again. "I reckon I could fly at a decent pace now, you know?" She reached out to touch Llew's cheek. "Don't be scared," she said. "I know you're worried for me, but I'm in complete control this time. No-one's going to get hurt, I promise you. Trust me?"

"Always. Now; I think I should have a shower before Mam arrives."

*

The arrival of the cavalry was heralded by the roar of a powerful engine which shattered the peace of the little village. A few minutes after the noise was first audible to human ears, a large people carrier powered into the village, shot around the edge of the common at high speed, then screeched to a halt in front of the Queen's Twin.

Llew and Cassie were waiting with Karen at the front of the pub. The three of them were seated at a table, and they rose to greet their friends. Annie Midhir climbed from the driver's seat and Daniel Jackson from the passenger side. Jack O'Neill all but leaped from the back seat, as though afraid that the vehicle was about to tear off again. Teal'c followed the Colonel, while Sam Carter emerged from the far side, accompanied by a girl of about sixteen.

"Michelle!" Cassie said, surprised and somewhat dismayed. "What is she doing here?" she demanded of Sam.

Llew winced at the brittleness in Cassie's voice; an expression which Sam mirrored. Llew had never met Michelle Carter, but he understood that she had some claim on Sam's affection which Cassandra had seen as a threat ever since Janet Fraiser's death. Michelle seemed pleasant enough, if somewhat distracted, but without his sight he could not be sure of anything.

"Michelle is here because we might need the assistance of a psychic sensitive," Sam replied, sternly. Clearly she was losing patience with Cassie's inability to accept Michelle, but in the circumstances was making a special effort not to be angry. "Particularly since you mentioned that there was something to do with your dreams."

"But...! Oh; never mind," Cassie sighed.

Daniel coughed, uncomfortably, then stepped forward. "Karen; you're looking well," he said.

"You're looking...fantastic," Karen replied, warmly. "You too, Annie."

Annie nodded, distractedly, but she had eyes only for her son. "Llew...?"

"Mam." The young man hugged his mother tightly. Annie held out a hand behind her back and Cassie grasped it, fondly. The embrace seemed to break the ice. First Sam, then Daniel and finally Jack squeezed Cassandra close; then Daniel hugged Llew, and Karen took a turn holding both Daniel and Annie. Llew looked at Teal'c and the two shared a smile and a nod of mutual respect.

Llew saw Michelle standing at the edge of the group and smiled at her as well. He went over and shook her hand. "I'm Llew," he said, with a warm smile.

The girl smiled, gratefully. "Michelle."

Once the greetings were over, the group sat down at the table and ordered a round of drinks.

"So," Jack asked, once Enid had served them and tactfully withdrawn. "Why don't you tell us all about it?"

Slowly at first, but gaining speed until their words were tumbling over each other, Llew and Cassandra told their tale, leaving nothing out. Much of it was new to Karen, who seemed shocked by the revelations she heard. Jack had not thought that she should be there, but Daniel and Annie insisted that she could be trusted and that her perspective could be useful.

"And...how about you?" Llew asked, when they were done. "What have you found?"

Sam reached into her jacket and laid the tube of reddish-brown sand on the table. "This," she said, "is auric oxide."

"Auric...? Gold?" Llew asked.

"But I thought gold didn't oxidise," Cassie said.

"Not under ordinary circumstances," Sam agreed. "You can create gold oxide – or strictly speaking, diauric trioxide; Au2O3 – in certain environmental conditions, but typically it reverts back to the pure metal again in an ordinary atmosphere; just about anything is reactive enough to take the oxygen away from gold. In this case...There are residual traces of some kind of energy field in this sample. I can't quite replicate the signature, but I'd hazard that this energy field caused the oxidation effect. It may also be responsible for the reactivation of Cassandra's powers, catalysing some reaction in the advanced areas of her genome."

"But where did this energy field come from?" Karen asked.

"From whatever was in that coffin," Llew replied.

"You're sure there was something?" Jack asked.

Llew nodded. "Something non-corporeal. I...I think I felt it when it emerged, but at first I chalked it up to shock. If it was more than that, then it was something very powerful."

"Alright," Jack asked. "So if this thing is running around, attacking people, how do we stop it?"

"I'm not sure we can," Sam admitted. "If this thing is a psychic entity, there's not much _we_ can do. Cassandra, Llew and Michelle might be a different matter."

"Don't...Don't look at me," Llew said. "I don't have any powers."

"What?" Daniel asked, concerned.

Annie sat up in alarm. "Llew?"

"I haven't _felt_ anything much for the last couple of days. Sam; I need you to take a sample of my blood and find out what's happening to my nanites. I think something is wrong with them. I think they're...dying."

Cassandra took Llew's hand and squeezed it, tightly. "You're not dying," she insisted. "I won't let it happen."

Angharad gave a soft moan.

"I...I'm sure you're fine, Llew," Sam assured him. "But I'll have a look once I get some equipment set up."

"There's something that occurs to me," Karen said, suddenly. "If that _was_ gold dust in that coffin..."

Annie nodded, distractedly. "Then it must have represented more gold than most Celtic kingdoms would have possessed."

"That entire coffin was a huge investment," Daniel agreed. "Combined with the little that I've already translated from the lining, I think it's fair to say that it was intended to contain an enemy that was very much feared by whoever made it. I think that the body you found on top of it was a guardian, a ritual sacrifice intended to watch over the prisoner for all eternity."

"This entity must have been one of great power to command such fear," Teal'c commented. "However, if it was defeated once, it must be possible to do so again," he added, for the benefit of Llew and Cassandra.

"That's true," Sam admitted. "I wonder how?"

"I haven't come across anything on that subject yet," Daniel admitted. "If there are instructions for fighting the enemy they must be hidden away on one of the buried panels; these ancient priest tend to be inconsiderate like that when they're burying their nemeses. With Annie and Karen's help I should be able to proceed much faster now. They both know more Celtic than I do."

The grown-ups talked, discussing possible strategies, falling silent each time one of the locals passed by. Llew and Cassie sat silently for the most part; so too did Michelle.

Michelle had always felt like an outsider whenever she saw Sam with Cassandra. It was not that she did not like living with Sam's brother – the last year as part of Mark Carter's family was perhaps the best year of her life – but it was Sam who had rescued her, Sam who had taken her out of her virtual world, Sam whom she loved as sister and mother; Sam who loved Cassandra better than she did Michelle. She had not wanted to come here, knowing that she was just a means to an end – that she was only here because the precious Cassie might need her – but she could not say no to Sam.

Cassie looked across at Michelle; her eyes narrowed, calculatingly.

"Can you sense anything odd, Michelle?" Sam asked. The girl sat, staring dumbly at Cassandra.

"Michelle." Sam reached out and shook the girl by the shoulder. "Michelle?"

"Sorry," Michelle said, shaking her head in bafflement. "It's just...Kind of blown away," she explained. "I can't believe how much power Cassie has; or how much control. I wouldn't want to be the thing that was going against her," she added.

"Well, hopefully we won't be putting any of you three into danger," Jack hastened to explain. "If there's another way..." He looked at Daniel and Sam.

"We'll find it," Daniel promised.

Cassie gave an angelic smile. "I know you will," she said. "Thank you all. Just let us know if there's anything we need to do."

Sam smiled, encouragingly. "I'd like to take a blood sample from you; and from Llew, so that we can check on his nanites."

"Sure," Cassie agreed. "After that...Would it be okay if we took off for a while. "I've spent a couple of days in hospital and I'm a little stir-crazy. I could use a walk in the country to clear my head."

"Okay," Sam said. "But be careful."

"And make sure we can get in touch if we find anything," Annie added, trying to hide her fear. "Do you have your phone?"

"Yes, Mam," Llew sighed. "Don't worry; we won't go out of signal range. We're not idiots; just young and stupid."

*

"Oh, yes!" Cassie exclaimed. "The clean air, the wind blowing over the hills; this is more like it. How I hate the stink of those cars."

Llew smiled. "Is this what your world was like?"

"My world?" Cassie snapped. "What do you mean my..." she tailed off, baffled. "Oh; of course. Hanka."

"Yes," Llew agreed, uncertainly. "What did you think I meant?"

"I...I don't know. Oh, Llew; I'm so confused."

They stopped and Llew put his arms around Cassandra. "Tell me what's wrong," he whispered.

"No," she replied, resolutely. "We're out here to enjoy ourselves!" She put her arms around him and held on tightly.

"What are you...?"

After a moment they lifted into the air. At first their movement was stately and sedate, but then Cassandra's grip tightened, and the two of them shot off across the hills at high speed.

"Cassie!" Llew screamed.

After about three miles of swooping between the hills, over the surface of rivers and up and down cascades, Cassie brought them gently back to earth. She was breathless with excitement, and if he were honest with himself, Llew was as well.

"Wasn't that _glorious_?" she gasped.

"It was dangerous, Cass. We could have been seen."

"Indeed?" Cassie took him in her arms again. "Come on; I'll show you something even more incredible."

"Cass..." But before he could protest, they were off again, with the air whipping through their hair and their clothes.

Perhaps in concession to Llew's fears of being seen, Cassandra stooped low, following the line of the hills so closely that he feared his feet would clash against the rocks and the dry stone walls. A flock of sheep scattered before them in panic and Cassie laughed in pure delight.

"Ah," she breathed.

"What?" Llew asked, dimly aware that the rushing of the wind should have been too loud for them to hear each other speak.

"Here."

With a flick of her will, Cassandra spun them to a stop and they hung in the air, floating gently. To Llew's horror, he saw a young man standing in front of them. The man had been engaged in repairing a wall, but now he was staring up the slope at the panicked sheep who were still milling around.

"What's up with them, then?" he wondered aloud. He turned to look directly at Llew and Cassie, put his hands to his mouth and hollered: "Cob! Elwy!"

"The hell does that mean?" Cassandra asked Llew.

"I guess they must be his sheepdogs," Llew said. "Why can't he see us?"

"Dogs? We'd best move on then."

"But why...?"

With another rush of speed, they were off again; over the hills and far away.

"He looked right through us," Llew realised. "How...?"

"I told him not to see us," she explained.

"You told...You influenced his mind, didn't you! You bent his will to yours; you controlled him!"

"Good; wasn't it? Can't do animals though. The sheep saw me; the dogs would have as well."

"You controlled him," he whispered, horrified. "The way that _Phyllis_ was controlled."

*

Sam sat down, staring at her equipment in frustration.

"Trouble, Sam?" Michelle asked.

"What? No. It's just...It's nothing, Michelle. Why don't you..."

"Go outside," Michelle sighed. "Just stay out of the way so you can help poor, dear Cassandra."

"Michelle!" Sam snapped. "You mustn't...I'm sorry, Michelle," she said. "I know this wasn't what you were expecting and I'm sorry I couldn't explain any better on the phone."

Sam could see how the message she had given to her brother, Mark, might have seemed to Michelle. When she had said that she needed Michelle to come to England with her, the girl had clearly expected a holiday; not a mission. Michelle was too young to be tapped as a resource and Sam knew it, but her fear for Cassandra had made her forget it.

"I promise I'll take you on a proper vacation real soon, Michelle," Sam said. "But Cassie needs our help now. You know I'd do the same for you, don't you?"

Michelle nodded, dejectedly. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing," Sam replied. "Her bloodwork seems unchanged; the lab in Pentwyth showed no resurgence of the retrovirus so I have no idea why her powers have returned. All there is is this energy signature; her cells are saturated with it. And Llew...His nanites seem to be fully active; there's no reason he should be losing his extrasensory abilities." She put her head in her hands. "I just...I don't know what's happening."

Michelle hung her head. "I think I know," she whispered.

"What?"

"When you were talking, earlier; you remember I kind of...zoned out?"

"Yes."

"I heard her talking to me," Michelle admitted. "In my head."

"Oh, Honey," Sam said, kindly. "You were just imagining..."

"No, Sam. I know the difference between a mental voice and an artefact of my own imagination. I've lived most of my life in a dream, after all. I heard her voice and she started trying to read my mind. So I tried to push her out and..."

"And?" Sam prompted.

"And she pushed back. I was never as strong as that, not even when I had the machines to amplify my powers. She shut me down, stopped me calling out, moving; I couldn't even shiver because she wouldn't let me."

"Oh my God," Sam whispered.

"The power I felt in her was awesome; awesome and arrogant and...malevolent. I was so scared. I wanted to warn you but she held me too tight, squeezing my mind until it hurt. And then she said that, if I told anyone anything about her, she'd tell you about the people I killed."

Sam reached out to gather Michelle to her. "Honey, I know. It wasn't your fault."

Michelle leaped away from Sam as though her touch burned. "But I enjoyed it," she said, a catch in her throat. As she went on, she began to weep. "That's what Cassandra could see. She knew that I enjoyed killing them, because I liked to win my games. So I told her I wouldn't tell, because...because I don't want you to hate me, Sam. But I can't hide it, because she's too dangerous and she's in too much danger."

"What danger is she in?" Sam asked. There was a note of condemnation in her voice, although she tried to hide it. "Michelle?"

"I didn't just sense power," Michelle explained, unable to raise her eyes to meet Sam's accusing stare. "There was fear as well; uncertainty. But I only felt that for a moment before it was squashed. And I was scared, so I said I'd do what she wanted. And she said I was a good girl, and then she let me talk to you again. I'm sorry, Sam," she whispered. "I just couldn't bear the thought of you knowing what kind of a monster I was."

"Then why tell me now?"

"Because I know it's the right thing to do," the girl replied. "Because..." She swallowed hard and forced herself to look up into Sam's ice-blue gaze. "Because it's what _you'd_ do, Sam."

Sam grabbed Michelle and dragged her into a fierce embrace. "You're not a monster, Honey," she whispered. "You're not a monster." She drew away again, and held Michelle by the shoulders. Her eyes sparkled with tears. "You're a good, brave girl, Michelle," she said. "Now come on; let's go see Daniel."

*

Cassandra landed them hard in a field of lupins and Llew stumbled.

"Don't say things like that!" she snapped. "It was just a bit of fun; I didn't hurt anyone."

"Those sheep didn't look too happy," Llew accused.

"They're only sheep!"

"It's still cruel to terrorise them like that, and as for interfering with someone's mind...!" Llew caught himself as his voice rose in pitch. He took a deep breath and paused for a long moment before continuing. "You can't do things like that, Cassandra," he said.

"Oh, but I can, Llew," she assured him. "We're not like other people my love. We are _extraordinary_ ; we are...are..." She searched for a word. "We are Hak'tar, Llew. We are..."

"Superior? I can't believe you think that. Besides; I'm certainly not extraordinary."

"You don't know how incredible you are, Llew," she said, smiling seductively. She gave a little giggle.

"What?" he asked.

"A golden field on an isolated hillside," she said. "That's pretty romantic, don't you think? Pretty special." She moved towards him. "No-one to interrupt us. Nothing for us to do." She chewed coquettishly at her lower lip. "Besides; if I am going too far, perhaps it's up to you to keep me out of trouble."

Llew took her in his arms and groaned, helplessly. "This isn't the time," he murmured.

"Yes, it is." She kissed him, passionately.

"I take your point," he conceded. Llew felt himself falling, but Cassie's power caught them both.

"This is all there is, my love," she assured him. "Nothing in this world matters, except for us."

Llew pulled away. "You really believe that," he realised.

"Llew..."

"No," he said, scrambling backwards, out of her grasp. "This is wrong." Llew's eyes widened in horror. "You blinded me," he realised.

"My love?"

"You did the same thing to me as you did to that shepherd. You blocked my sight because you knew I'd know."

"Baby? What are you talking about?"

Llew stared at her with cold, hard eyes. "What have you done with her?" he demanded.

"With who?"

"Don't play games with me!" he hissed, furiously. "Where is Cassandra!"

Cassie laughed. The sound began as her usual, merry chuckle, but then the tone changed and it became cold and cruel. "You are _very_ good," she purred.

"What are you? A Goa'uld?"

"Perhaps not that good, after all. A Goa'uld? Is that the limit of your nightmares, boy? Well; I suppose you deserve the truth, and it can not avail you."

She passed her hand in front of her, and the veil was lifted from Llew's eyes. He saw Cassandra, a purple knot of fear trapped at the centre of her own being, surrounded by the incandescent aura of the _other_ ; the being that had possessed her body and taken her powers for its own use.

"Let Cassandra go," Llew demanded.

"You do not understand," she laughed. "I am Cassandra; and I am so much more."

"No," he stated flatly. "You are not her. You're nothing compared to her."

The Cassandra thing lifted her head to the sky. She gave a roar of pure fury, and the very sound of it seemed hot enough to burn.

*

Jack and Teal'c hurried out of the Queen's Twin and got into the people carrier. Jack switched on the engine, but before he could pull away, Michelle had run after them and opened the back door.

"I'm coming with you," she insisted. "I'm the only one who can resist her at all."

"If I tell you to run, you run," Jack told her, not wasting time on argument. "Understand."

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright then. Let's..."

"O'Neill!" Teal'c pointed out of the side window. Behind the houses, past the trees and beyond the hills, a column of flame was rising.

"What is that?" Michelle asked.

"We'll find out when we get there," Jack told her. He dropped the vehicle into gear and sped off in the direction of the fire.

 

The field of lupins was nothing but ash. The air wobbled with heat, and great concentric circles of charred stalks radiated out from the centre of the field. Caked in ash and almost invisible in the haze, two small figures were huddled at the heart of the destruction. A farmer stood at the edge of his devastated crop, shrinking from the heat.

"Bloody kids!" He yelled as Jack climbed down from the car. He sounded more frightened than angry, and he squinted with concern at the figures.

"What happened?" Jack demanded.

"Damned if I know," the man replied. "Must've set off some kind of firework, but I've never seen the like. Poor bastards; what the hell were they thinking."

"We have to get to them."

"Nothing we can do for those two," the farmer insisted. "The fire brigades coming, but it's too late for them already. Horrible; just horrible."

"T!" Jack called.

The Jaffa was already moving, striding out over the cornfield, ignoring the heat that scorched his face and burned his lungs. The strength was sapped from his body with each breath he took of the oxygen-starved air, but he forged on, unrelenting.

"He's insane!" The farmer insisted. "Wait for the fire brigade, man!"

"They won't last that long," Jack replied.

"They were at the centre of that lot; they're already gone!"

"No," Michelle told him. "They're alive."

They watched, and saw the Jaffa reach the centre of the field. He stooped and lifted one of the figures over his shoulder, then the other. So burdened, he turned and made his way back across the field.

"I don't believe it," the farmer breathed.

"Believe it," Jack suggested. "Michelle; call Sam, tell her to find me the nearest burns unit."

"That'd be Pentwyth," the farmer told him.

Jack nodded, gratefully, and turned back to Michelle. "Have Sam call them, tell them to prep for three patients."

Michelle nodded.

Teal'c emerged from the haze, wheezing like a bellows. His skin was blistered and cracked, his voice was hoarse and he looked exhausted, but he had made it. He sank to his knees. "Cassandra," he whispered, and let the girl slide forward into Jack's arms; then he shifted Llew so that he was carrying the boy in both arms. The farmer hurried to help, but Teal'c would not release the youth.

"Teal'c," Jack said. "Let him help."

Teal'c nodded. Between the three of them, they loaded Llew and Cassandra into the back of the car. Teal'c climbed slowly into the passenger side.

"You follow the hill road up and over," the farmer told Jack. "The first right is signed to Pentwyth, but you need the third left after that and there isn't a sign on that one. After that it's straight ahead all the way."

"Thanks," Jack said.

As the car sped away, Michelle sat in the back and tried to look over Llew's injuries; only to find that he had none.

"Um...Colonel O'Neill?"

"Yes."

"They're unhurt," she said. "Covered in ash, but otherwise not a mark on them." She put her hand on the side of Llew's throat to feel for a pulse and the young man groaned.

"Cassie?" he whispered, reaching up to grasp Michelle's fingers.

"She's here," Michelle promised. "You're going to be fine, I promise. Both of you."

"Cassie...possessed..."

"We figured," Jack assured him.

"I can feel it," Michelle said. "Inside her, fighting her for control of her own body."

"And winning. I think she's exhausted for now," Llew added. "Too tired even to block our senses and keep us from sensing her. Won't stay that way for long though."

"Don't worry," Jack said. "Carter and Daniel are working on it."

*

"So it's an energy being," Daniel said. "But it seems to need a corporeal host and gold and lead seem to contain it somehow."

"What about the inscriptions?" Sam asked.

"Well, they're not magical," Annie replied. "They're a narrative; a permanent reminder to the creature of how she was captured and imprisoned by the people who once lived here. From what little we've translated so far, she all-but destroyed their village before they managed to trap her, burying the poor girl who was 'afflicted with the spirit of evil' in that coffin to banish the spirit forever. They buried her in the 'dead zone', where she could never regain her strength."

"How did they trap her?"

Daniel shook his head, sadly.

"Come on," Sam encouraged him. "You never know; it might be something we can use!"

"Oh, we've translated it," he assured her. "It's just..."

Karen looked up from the photographs. "We had a look at the body. They trapped her by stabbing her through the heart with a golden knife."

"A golden knife?" Sam was sceptical.

"It's still there, lying amid the bones. It must have bound her to that host body; her spirit would have been released when the flesh decayed, but only to roam within the confines of the coffin."

"But a gold knife...It can't be gold."

"It's definitely gold," Karen said, "but there is something odd about it.

"Such as?"

"Such as, it's as hard as steel and still holds an edge." Daniel said.

Sam sighed. "Well, you're right anyway; there's no hope there. I'm not prepared to give up on Cassie."

Annie smiled encouragingly, trying to hide her own pain. "We may have a plan though," she said. "One that doesn't involved stabbing Cassie through the heart, _or_ burying her in a lead-lined coffin."

Daniel nodded in agreement. "We just need to find a way of luring the entity out of Cassandra's body and into a vessel of gold; then we can seal that vessel in lead and copper."

"And how do we do that?" Sam asked.

"We rather hoped you might have some ideas," Daniel admitted. "You're the energy expert."

Sam sighed. "I suppose...I suppose I could try to create a modulated energy field with the same profile as the entity's. It would be like the perfect food source for it."

"It's got to be worth a try at..."

Daniel broke off as Sam's phone rang. She turned away to answer.

"Colonel?"

"Major Carter," Teal'c said, his voice still rasping. "A difficulty has arisen."

"Teal'c?"

"We have lost Cassandra, and Llew Midhir also."

"What happened?"

"Cassandra awoke. She tore the roof from our vehicle and took flight, carrying Llew Midhir with her. We were unable to determine where she went; she flew too fast for us to follow. We are at present returning to Llantisilly."

"See you soon," Sam sighed, despondently.

"More problems?" Daniel asked.

Sam nodded. "Now we don't even know where they are."

_*_

After she tore her way out of the car, Cassie flew faster than she had done before; so fast that Llew actually blacked out for a time. When he came round Cassandra was slowing, but the tumbledown old house in front of them was still approaching at alarming speed. Just as Llew felt certain that they were about to collide with a first floor window, the sash sprang open and they flew harmlessly through to land softly on a carpeted floor.

Cassandra released Llew, and he slumped in a heap at her feet. She gazed around at the house; its threadbare carpets, its stained, peeling wallpaper, its crumbling timbers. The stairs before them were dilapidated, only half of the steps still in place. Tapestries rotted in their place and the stench of decay was everywhere.

"What a dump," she said, a strange resonance to her voice; deeper than Cassandra's normal cadence, yet quite different from the throb of a Goa'uld's tones. "But in its day..."

Llew struggled into a sitting position as Cassandra crouched down and laid her hand on the carpet. Where her fingers touched, the floor seemed to flex, a ripple spreading out from her hand, lapping up the walls, down the stairs and over the banisters. Wave after wave pulsed out, and with each successive ripple the fabric of the house was left a little sturdier; the wallpaper and paint a little brighter; the wood and brasses a little more polished.

At last Cassandra stood again and surveyed her handiwork. The house looked now as it must have done in its heyday. Gas lights flickered on the walls, casting their glow over fabulous paintings, rich, thick tapestries and a luxurious russet carpet. The stink of decay was gone, replaced by an odour of wood polish and musty, opulent age.

Llew was astonished. He was certain that this was no illusion; the house was truly transformed. Llew tried to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the power that would be needed to effect such a metamorphosis.

"Isn't that better?" Cassie asked. "Now; this outfit." She shrugged her shoulders, and at once her jeans and t-shirt were replaced by a flowing, ivory gown. "Not quite what I am used to, but how do I look?"

"Stunning," Llew replied, truthfully. "It really suits you, but it isn't yours."

"But I made...Oh! You don't mean the dress. I hope you're not going to be tiresome about this, my darling. I have such glorious plans for you, but they will be difficult to implement if you force me to break too many of your limbs."

"That's sweet. Really. I doubt I've ever received such a charming threat to my life and limb."

"No shouts? No reckless displays of outrage? No 'I'll make you regret this'?"

"What's the point? You know I'm no kind of match for your strength."

"True." Cassie chuckled, softly. With a wave of her hand she threw open a door and swept them both into a magnificently-appointed bedchamber. Llew found himself lifted up and slung onto a four-poster bed.

"Oh, my love," Cassie crooned, as she drifted down to the bedspread next to him. "Such things I have to show you."

"I'm not interested," Llew insisted. He tried to wriggle away from her, but found a mental barrier blocking his way.

Cassie laughed and chucked him playfully under the chin. "Liar."

"I'm not _very_ interested, then, and the only reason I am interested is because you have stolen my girlfriend's body."

"Come now, Llew. Think of it, my love; isn't there anything you ever wanted to do with Cassandra, but didn't dare ask? I assure you that nothing you can ask would shock _me_. Tell me, darling; what do you want?"

"I want Cassandra back," Llew said.

"You foolish man; you have no idea who I am."

"You're not the first woman to make that assumption," Llew replied. "You're no more right than Nirrti was."

"You are an arrogant child!"

Llew chuckled. "Damn; you've sweet-talked me. Take me now."

"You believe that I am a Goa'uld, you fool."

"I apologise for that," Llew admitted. "I underestimated the scope of your powers, I admit, but I think I know you now."

"Amaze me."

"You are the Queen's Twin. The Strife bringer. You are Gwenhwyvar."

"How...!"

"I study," Llew replied.

Gwenhwyvar smiled. "So I have chosen wisely after all," she said.

"No," he replied. "You have not. You have taken that which does not belong to you."

"Oh for goodness sake, Llew. You have such potential, but you squander it with this tiny worldview of yours. Can you not see what I am offering you? Forget Cassandra! She is a weak, insignificant _nothing_! I offer you a world of such powers and pleasures if you would only let go of your stupid attachment to this pitiful mass of flesh, bone and neurons!"

"She is the woman I love," Llew explained.

"No! She is nothing. _I_ am your destiny, Llew."

"No, Gwenhwyvar. You may be able to make this old house resemble its nineteenth century glory days; cloud men's minds or bend them to your will; fly faster than can be seen; but you're still just one more would-be über-badass feather to end up in SG-1's caps."

"Those clowns will never even...even..." Her eyes widened in fury. "You treacherous fiend."

Gwenhwyvar leaped away from him and flew into the air, hovering beside the bed. She held out her hand and Llew's mobile ripped free from his pocket, trailing its hands-free wire. Gwenhwyvar closed her fingers around the phone and raised it to her mouth. "If you try to find us, I will kill the boy," she snarled. "Do not think that you can defeat me."

With a flash, the phone exploded.

"Now," she purred. "How should you be punished for this betrayal?"

*

Jack and Teal'c returned to the private lounge of the Queen's Twin, a badly shaken Michelle walking between the two of them, to find it in an uproar. The three archaeologists were ploughing through reference material, while Sam worked feverishly on a laptop.

"We might need a new car," Jack admitted, announcing their presence.

"Is there some new development?" Teal'c asked.

"Llew managed to get us some information before Gwenhwyvar found his cell phone," Daniel explained. "We're trying to make something of it."

"Who found his cell phone?" Jack asked.

"Gwenhwyvar," Daniel repeated.

"An early Celtic precursor to Queen Guinevere," Karen explained.

"As in the Arthur legend?" Jack asked, doubtfully.

"Eventually," Karen agreed. "But originally she was a Brythonic trickster goddess, who tore down the works of heroes."

"What are we talking about?" Jack asked. "A Goa'uld?"

"We don't think so," Daniel said.

Annie looked up from a green, cloth-bound notebook. "Llew had been researching her a little before this," she explained. "According to the notes in his workbook, the pub is named after her. There's a variant of the Arthur story in which Guinevere's twin sister – also called Guinevere..."

Jack gave a wry grin to try and crack Annie's black mood. "Family holidays must have been a laugh."

Annie flashed him a grateful smile and continued: "...who abducted and replaced her in an attempt to steal the power Guinevere had as Arthur's Queen. The only problem was that she didn't love Arthur; she fell for Lancelot, and thus the trouble began."

"Lay it out for me," Jack suggested.

Daniel sighed. "We're dealing with an energy being that exists as a parasite on a living being. Long ago it 'piggy-backed' on a Queen and destroyed a kingdom with its appetites. Currently it's infested Cassie and wants to seduce Llew, and we have no way to track it. We're working on that last part."

"What of the cell phone?" Teal'c asked.

Sam shook her head. "Not a whisper; we didn't have time to lock it down."

"Llew mentioned a nineteenth century house," Sam added. "I'm trying to find something that fits the description, but there's a few of them around here."

"We passed two big old houses on the way back," Michelle agreed.

"Those were not old," Teal'c told her.

"They looked old to me." She shrugged. "I guess I don't have much reference."

"Um...Daniel," Karen said, softly. "I _may_ have a way to find her."

*

Llew thought that Gwenhwyvar would try to hurt him physically; that would have fitted his experience of power-crazed would-be gods. Gwenhwyvar was more subtle than that, however, and what she did was worse.

"You will never see your precious Cassandra again," she said. "Sooner or later you must accept that, my love. Cassandra – the Cassandra that you know – is _gone_ ; forever."

"I will never accept it," Llew replied. "I can sense her, Gwenhwyvar; I have always been able to sense her presence. You blinded me once, but I can see now." Llew winced as a great pressure clamped down on his mind. "You...You can hurt me," he gasped, "but you can't hide your true nature from me again and you can not hide her heart from mine."

"I do not need to," Gwenhwyvar laughed. "I can do anything I want to you; your beliefs are immaterial. The only one who suffers by your stubbornness is Cassandra. You see, it is only your refusal to let go of the old Cassandra that presses a trace of her primitive persona to resist this transformation."

"Transformation?"

"Yes!" A rapturous look came over Gwenhwyvar's borrowed face. "I am not a malevolent entity _possessing_ Cassandra; I am that which she is _becoming_. You must have realised that her powers could not be mastered and encompassed by a human will? I, Gwenhwyvar, am what Cassandra was always meant to be."

"Even if that is so, then it was meant only by Nirrti," Llew hissed. "I care nothing for her desires."

"Let her go, and her suffering will be over for ever, Llew. As will yours."

"You will kill her."

"No! She will not be dead, but transformed! Let go of your narrow view and let me be what I must be!"

"Never."

Gwenhwyvar gave a shriek of rage. Llew was ripped from the bed and thrown across the room. He slammed into the wall, the force of the impact blasting the breath from his body.

"Are you going to be doing that a lot?" he gasped.

"So long as you persist in this folly!" she snapped. "Sleep now. Soon you will see the light; I promise you."

Llew dragged himself up and watched as Gwenhwyvar swept out. The door slammed shut behind her.

"Oh, Cariad," he groaned. "Oh my poor Cassie."

*

"What is that?" Jack asked. "A treasure map?"

"It is an earth force chart," Karen explained. "You use it for plotting ley line tracks."

"Oh," Sam said, trying to restrain her scepticism. "That's...nice. How does it work?"

"You dowse," Karen replied, frostily. "My psychic abilities may be limited, but I can divine ley line configurations better than anyone."

"Oh, good," Jack said.

"Karen," Daniel interjected, reasonably. "What makes you think this will work?"

"Well; I surveyed this area before we arrived. Take a look."

"There's nothing there," Sam pointed out, following Karen's finger.

"Exactly! This is a dead zone; not a single ley line. Why put a standing stone away from any channel of earth power?"

"Do tell," Jack prompted.

To Jack's surprise, it was not Daniel, but Teal'c who spoke in support of Karen. "On Chulak, the Jaffa construct shrines and light funeral pyres only on sites where we believe the breath of the land flows freely," he said, in a voice which dared anyone to mock _his_ beliefs. "It was believed that in these places, the power of the gods would feed the shrine; there was a sense of great holiness about such places."

"And the opposite?" Karen asked.

"There was a place in a high dale above the city where the land was said to be stifled. Nothing grew there; the dale was cold and barren, and heretics, traitors and criminals were burned there."

"Exactly. You put things there to be _forgotten_. That's why Gwenhwyvar was buried here, trapped in the body of her last host and locked inside a coffin designed to keep out any energies that might leak into the area. They could not destroy her, so they kept her starved, denying her the power she craved."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "You believe that she will now seek a holy place in which to renew her strength?"

"That's my guess," she agreed.

"But this is ridiculous," Sam protested.

"Maybe!" Karen snapped. "But I'll bet you any money that _Gwenhwyvar_ believes in it, and if my dowsing is anything like the principles which she works by, we shall at least narrow down the area." She sighed. "Look; you keep working on something else. I'm not asking you to put all your eggs in one basket. Just let me try this."

There was a long pause.

"Much as I hate to admit it, we've got nothing else," Sam admitted.

"Lend a hand, Annie?" Karen asked.

Annie shook her head and gave a slight smile. "Llew's the one you want for that kind of thing. I just pray to aliens."

Daniel laid a comforting hand on Annie's arm. "We'll keep working on how to deal with Gwenhwyvar once we find her," he suggested.

"I'll look at the field equations for the trap," Sam added. "It may be that I can also find a way to adapt a scanner to track Gwenhwyvar's energy emissions.

"That's good," Jack agreed, with false cheer. "Teal'c and I will...make some lunch."

*

Llew fell asleep on the floor and woke up in the bed. He had been exhausted when he fell asleep; worn out by the day's excitement and by the effort of fighting Gwenhwyvar's influence. He did not feel much better now, and suspected that he had not slept for more than an hour. The light through the window still had the quality of the early afternoon sun, although the air in the room was becoming stuffy. He clambered, fuzzy-headed, from the bed and crossed to open the window. It could not escape his attention that he was dressed in a pair of dark, silk pyjamas and that there was no sign of his clothes. He wondered whether Gwenhwyvar had simply transformed his own garments or had stripped him while he slept; then he tried, with little success, to stop thinking about it.

The fresh air from outside was a welcome relief, rousing and focusing his mind. The gently rolling hills stretched away as far as he could see, cut by the occasional line of pylons marching across the horizon, but there were no landmarks which would tell him where he was. The nearest road was little more than a tiny track; there was no major thoroughfare to be seen. Even if he were able to make his way from the window to the ground, he could never get away; not with Gwenhwyvar's psychic sensitivity and impressive flight speed.

As though she had been summoned by his thoughts, Gwenhwyvar rose up in front of the window.

"I'd rather you didn't jump," she said. "You have such nice legs."

"Why is it that villains can't just speak plainly and use the door?" Llew asked.

"I'm no villain," Gwenhwyvar laughed.

"Evil is relative. You want to destroy the woman I love; that makes you evil in my eyes. You may well have been hard done by, being locked up in that coffin, but to be brutally honest, Gwenhwyvar, I don't give a crap."

"Oh Llew; you do not understand me at all." Gwenhwyvar tipped her body forward and floated through the window, forcing him to step backwards. She moved closer and he backed away; she matched his movement until he ran into a wall.

"You're right. I don't understand you. What has me most confused is wondering why you _want_ me to understand you. All that power; why do you care what I think?"

"Because I want you. That much of me is still Cassandra."

"Nothing of you is Cassandra," Llew said. "Cassandra is a wonderful, luminous being who lights up everything she touches. You are a flame; incandescent and consuming."

"Now who is not speaking plainly?"

"If you want plain: You are a monster, Gwenhwyvar. Even if Cassie is gone forever, that spark of her at your core nothing but an echo, you will never have anything from me that you don't take by force!"

"You are a fool, Llew Midhir! Your perspicacity, your willpower and your wit would be a fine complement to my power."

"Call me a sceptic, but I simply do not believe that you are overwhelmed by desire for my person."

"You may scoff," Gwenhwyvar sniffed. "But this is no mere fancy of lust, I assure you. The matter of selecting an appropriate mate is not a trivial one, my love. The correct partner makes any person stronger, be they ever so mighty. Power is nothing without insight; perception worthless without the ability to _affect_. It is a simple case of symbiosis and amplification; the sating of physical desire is but a minor side benefit. Very few are ever fortunate enough to find the one that they are truly destined to be with."

"Well, that I do understand," Llew assured her.

Gwenhwyvar's eyes lit up, excitedly. "Then you..."

"I am _destined_ to be with Cassie," he told her, coldly, "if with anyone. Leave me be or end this ridiculous game."

Gwenhwyvar's face flashed livid with rage. "The game ends at _my_ whim; not yours. And I have a mind to play a while longer my lovely." With a twitch of her head, she cast him back onto the bed. "A long while, if needs be."

"So I see," Llew gasped, winded. _And I wonder why?_ he thought to himself.

*

Sam tried to focus on her own calculations, but her curiosity would not be denied and she kept sneaking glances at Karen's charts. As the other woman worked, something slowly dawned on Sam.

"Something wrong, Blue-eyes?" Karen asked.

"No," Sam replied, turning back to her field equations. Once again, she failed to control her inquisitive instincts. "Shouldn't you be using a pendulum?" she asked, when she just could not stop herself any longer. "Rather than a compass, a scientific calculator and a set of draughtsman's instruments?"

Karen laughed. "Give me a break. I'm not some loony, you know. Earth energy is a science, like any other; just a little more clouded with mysticism and fuzzy lay knowledge. It's based on a study of magnetic force lines and psychic flow...You understand of course that psychic energy is closely related to electromagnetism?"

"Of course."

The scepticism in Sam's voice only drew a smile from Karen. "Anyway, by studying the connections and the force lines and the reading on my compass – correlated to other readings that have been posted on the internet by observers around the country – I can map the current arrangement of the ley lines."

"Scientifically?"

"So to speak." Karen place her t-square and marked a point. She looked up to the next table, where Daniel and Angharad sat, heads close together over a heavy reference tome, and watched them while her cunning fingers positioned a protractor. "Are they back together then?" she asked in a soft tone. "Daniel and Annie?"

"Not as far as I know," Sam replied.

"Shame."

Sam gave Karen a quizzical look. "Shame?"

"What?" Karen asked with a chuckle.

"Nothing. Just; to the casual eye it might look as though you were interested in Daniel yourself."

Karen grinned. "True enough," she admitted. "But they were always a cute couple. Besides," she added, "don't you just get that warm feeling, deep down, just thinking about being a filling in that sandwich?"

Sam's eyes widened in shock. "Erm...No," she replied. "You do?"

"Since the first day I saw them together. It's one of my favourite sticky thoughts."

"Sticky...? No; don't expand on that."

"So...Is he seeing anyone?" Karen asked, slyly.

"I...don't know," Sam hedged. "He's been spending a lot of time with Sarah Gardner, but I don't know if there's anything going on."

Karen made a dismissive sound.

"No light-lunch related fantasies with that one?"

"Too tall. I like a bit of height on my men, but I prefer a woman more my own measure." Karen looked at Sam and winked.

Sam stared, like a rabbit trapped in the headlights of a car.

"Everything alright, Carter?" Jack asked, approaching with a plate.

"I...yes, Sir," Sam replied, her throat dry. She groped for her glass and took a long swig of water.

Jack held out his plate. "Sandwich?" he offered.

Sam almost choked.

_*_

"Is Sam alright?" Daniel asked, when Jack came over to offer the results of his and Teal'c's handiwork. The Jaffa had remained with Sam and Karen, partly because he was interested in Karen's divining calculations, and partly because Sam was standing on his foot.

"She says so," Jack replied. "Any good news from you two?"

"Define good," Annie suggested.

"Anything that suggests we might not be completely hosed," Jack offered.

"Well; we know what we're doing," Daniel said. "That's got to be a plus."

"I'd buy that. Spill."

"Well; we probably can't force her out of Cassandra's body."

"See; that's bad news."

"Rather, we have to help Cassie to expel Gwenhwyvar herself," Annie said. "You know as well as I do that the girl has more than enough strength to do that."

Jack frowned. "If that's the case, then how did she get hold of her in the first place?"

"Well; Gwenhwyvar's a trickster," Annie explained.

"Her power is drawn from deception," Daniel expanded. "Deception and _betrayal_."

Jack snapped his fingers. "Lancelot."

"Exactly," Angharad agreed. "The spirit probably took Guinevere's body in order to sow strife and create the atmosphere of suspicion, doubt and misery that feeds her. More than that, however; she aimed the bulk of that unjust hatred against herself; or rather against her host."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that she gains power by making Cassandra betray people," Daniel explained. "And she gains power over Cassandra by making those for whom she cares betray _her_. She must have taken Llew with her because it would break Cassie for him to turn from her."

Angharad sighed, sadly. "The fact that he didn't spot that she was possessed at once is probably what weakened her in the first place. Poor Llew; it would crush him if he ever suspected."

"I'm still not seeing the good news," Jack admitted.

Daniel gave a proud smile; almost a father's expression. "Now that he knows it, Llew is resisting Gwenhwyvar with all his might. Such a show of loyalty will weaken Gwenhwyvar and strengthen Cassie. If we can reach them, we can aid Cassie in the same way; by having faith in her, whatever Gwenhwyvar says. Once she is expelled from Cassandra, we can trap the spirit in the vessel Sam is constructing; the energy field should pull her in once she is disembodied."

"We can also help by forcing Gwenhwyvar to expend more of her energy," Angharad added. "If we can make her angry, then gods willing she will burn off the power she is tapping from the ley lines."

"Burn off?" Jack asked. "Is that a code word for: 'expend in order to kick our asses'?"

"Something like that," Annie agreed, brightly. "And if we can make her use up that strength, Cassie will be better able to evict her."

"And what happens to us?"

"I can not believe that we will be seriously injured; not so long as anything of Cassandra remains."

"And if...?" Jack stopped, unwilling to seriously consider the possibility that Cassandra might already be beyond their reach.

"No," Annie assured him, with absolute confidence. "She won't be lost as long as Llew remains faithful."

"The inscriptions are clear on that," Daniel agreed, signalling with a subtle motion of his hand that this was not an avenue which should be explored in too much detail. Jack responded with a nod that was too subtle for anyone but another member of SG-1 to catch.

"By George! I think we've got it!" Karen exclaimed.

Annie and Jack locked gazes; Jack would not usually have backed down, but Angharad had a child involved and he knew that he would not win this one. He gave a reluctant nod and lobbed the keys across the table.

"You drive," he agreed.

*

Llew struggled to draw breath into his battered lungs and kept his eyes fixed on Gwenhwyvar.

"This is just a fragment of the pain which _I_ feel, every moment that your scepticism holds back the completion of my transformation," Gwenhwyvar panted. The effort of bouncing Llew around the walls was clearly wearying to her. "Accept me as I am, Llew my darling; let your old idea of _Cassie_ go and embrace Gwenhwyvar. End my pain; please."

"You know, I always find plaintive appeals to be more convincing from people who can't throw me across a room," Llew admitted. "From the strong, begging just seems pathetic."

Gwenhwyvar's eyes flashed, dangerously. "Pathetic? I suppose you would know it to hear it! Clinging to the memory of the only person who ever affected to care for you. You know that her 'love' for you was all pretence; an artefact of fear and desperation and loneliness."

"Speaking of which..." Llew broke off, coughing, his throat dry and his lungs empty.

"Your affection for her is as much as a sham, if you will leave her suffering like this, when it is in your power to end her pain with one, little kiss."

"An end..." Llew coughed again. "An end to all pain is just another word for death," he croaked.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Gwenhwyvar snarled, punctuating her words by slamming Llew into the wall. " _You_ will kill her with your stubbornness!"

"She would rather die than be your tool," Llew assured her.

"But you do not wish to see her dead," Gwenhwyvar discerned.

"You're right. I don't. I want her back."

"Give in to me, Llew. It is the only way to save her."

"Never."

Gwenhwyvar's narrowed. "So be it."

*

Angharad slewed the wreck of the people carrier to a halt outside the old house. There could be no question that this was the place; no other house in the area could have retained its Regency beauty so resolutely.

"Damnit!" Jack snapped, gripping the edges of his seat as though his life depended on it. "With the roof off, this thing isn't actually safe to drive, you know?"

Angharad ignored him and dashed for the door, with Daniel close on her heels. They were only halfway to the house when one of the front windows was blasted outwards under the impact of Llew's body. The boy arced outwards, limbs flailing, and plunged swiftly towards the earth.

"No!" Angharad screamed.

"Llew!" Daniel made a desperate attempt to catch the falling youth, but he was too far away. Llew hit the ground hard, bounced twice and lay still. Daniel and Annie fell to their knees beside the crumpled form and, with a trembling hand, Daniel reached out and touched Llew's throat.

"He...He's alive," Daniel gasped.

Llew groaned. "Daniel...? Mam!" He reached up to accept his mother's fond embrace.

"But...how?" Angharad sobbed, pulling her boy close.

"Cassie," Llew replied. "Every time Gwenhwyvar has tried to hurt me, Cassandra has been able to protect me; shielding me from the worst of the blows."

"She still has some control, then?" Daniel asked.

"Of course," Llew replied, with simple confidence. "We're talking about Cassie, after all."

A thunderous voice made the earth shudder. " _CASSANDRA_?" The doors of the house flew open and Gwenhwyvar floated out, her body wreathed in flames.

"Cassie!" Sam cried, starting forward. Close to, the heat of the flames repulsed her, but Sam pushed on, hair singing, until Jack and Teal'c caught her arms and held her back.

Michelle moaned, almost overwhelmed by the power which radiated from Cassandra's body. She staggered and almost fell, but Karen caught hold of her. The archaeologist was shaking as much as Michelle herself, and they shared a look of mutual support. No-one else seemed to have noticed their discomfort, all eyes were fixed on Cassie's incandescent form.

"What can we do?" Michelle asked.

"Wait," Karen replied, unhappily. "Pray?"

 " _THERE IS NO CASSANDRA_!" Gwenhwyvar boomed. " _YOU WILL NEVER HAVE HER BACK LLEW MIDHIR! SUBMIT TO ME AND YOU WILL AT LEAST POSSESS HER BODY; REFUSE ME ONCE MORE AND I SHALL DESTROY EVEN THAT! I SHALL LET THE FLAMES TAKE HER!_ "

"No!" Sam cried.

"Let her go, damn you!" Jack demanded.

" _SUBMIT!_ "

"No," Llew said, simply.

" _THEN YOU SURRENDER HER TO DESTRUCTION!_ " Gwenhwyvar laughed.

"Llew! You can't let her destroy Cassie!" Sam insisted.

"She won't. She can't."

" _DO NOT PRESUME,_ " Gwenhwyvar warned. " _SO BE IT. THERE ARE OTHER BODIES; OTHER HOSTS._ " The flames burned brighter and hotter.

"Llew!" Jack bellowed.

"Have faith," the youth said.

" _I WILL DESTROY HER IF YOU DO NOT SUBMIT!_ " Gwenhwyvar repeated.

"She sounds different," Michelle realised.

"Desperate!" Karen agreed.

" _N-NO!_ " Gwenhwyvar gasped, clearly shaken. " _YOU_..." She turned towards Sam and her voice fell into Cassie's normal tones. "You. You are the one who first betrayed me!"

"No!"

Teal'c squeezed Sam's arm. "Pay her no mind," he advised.

"Don't listen."

"I loved you and you gave me up," Cassie sobbed. "You talk about faith, but you did not care enough be a mother to me. I have never forgiven you for that, and now your selfishness has left me with not one but _two_ dead mothers! You can not imagine how I hate you for that."

"It's not true!" Sam sobbed, clearly not entirely sure. "Cassie, please..."

"Carter; don't believe her," Jack pressed.

"And you, Jack. Weren't you the one who wanted to consign me to a concrete tomb, all alone. You have always hated me, haven't you? I always knew it; every time you tried to hide it with your false kindnesses I almost gagged on it."

"You are becoming desperate," Teal'c told the ancient being, "if that is the best you can do." He held tightly to Sam's arm and tried not to think about how hard that last blow had hit Jack. His friend had adored Cassandra from the first, and the fact that it was Sam and not he who had refused to give up on the girl was a source of constant pain.

Fortunately, Gwenhwyvar's patience was growing thin and she was unable to press her advantage. " _YOU WANT THE PROOF OF THE GIRL'S WEAKNESS?_ " she roared. " _YOU BELIEVE THAT SHE PROTECTED YOU, MY LOVE? WELL SEE NOW HOW LITTLE STRENGTH SHE HAS TO RESIST ME!_ "

The flames lashed out from Cassandra's body, long tendrils of fire that slashed at Karen's face and wrapped Michelle in their pyric embrace.

Michelle writhed and screamed, twisting her body and kicking her legs in a desperate, futile attempt to break free. The fiery bonds held fast, but as yet did not burn her.

"No!" Sam wailed. "Damn you! Let her go."

" _CHOOSE!_ " Gwenhwyvar told Llew. " _SUBMIT TO ME OR THE GIRL DIES!_ "

"No."

" _HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A HUMAN BURN? HAVE YOU EVER SMELLED THAT FLESH CHAR; HEARD THE SCREAMS THAT LINGER UNTIL THE THROAT HAS GIVEN OUT?_ "

"Llew," Jack warned. "She'll do it, and you do not want to see this!"

"Cassie won't let her."

Michelle screamed as her clothes began to smoulder.

Sam turned imploring eyes on Llew. "Cassie hates Michelle! We have to do something."

Llew struggled painfully to his feet and stared with resolute sadness at the levitating form. "No."

"Llew?" Angharad asked her son. "Are you sure?"

"Trust her, Mam."

Angharad nodded. "Alright."

Llew smiled at his mother, then turned to Daniel.

Daniel looked into the boy's grey eyes. "I trust her," he said.

"Sam? Jack?"

Jack nodded, reluctantly. He released Sam's arm. Teal'c inclined his head once and did the same. There was a long pause.

"Sam!" Michelle cried, as the flames tightened around her.

"It's okay, Sweetie," Sam promised. "Trust Cassie. She won't hurt you."

"Sam, please..."

Sam closed her eyes tightly. "Trust her."

"It hurts."

"Then trust me, Michelle. Trust me."

"Yes, Sam," Michelle whispered. "I trust you."

" _WHAT ARE YOU DOING!_ " Gwenhwyvar demanded.

Llew took a step towards her. "I know Cassandra," he said. "I don't think you could ever know someone the way I know her; the way she knows me. I said that she would rather die than give into you, and I meant it. You are right that I do not want her to die, but I can not protect her from you. I won't ever give you what you want, because I know that she would not want to live; not if a threat to her had caused anyone else to come to harm. And if she did not want to live, you would have her. And I will _never_ allow that."

" _NO!_ " Gwenhwyvar screamed.

"We won't give, Gwenhwyvar. We won't yield to you. We don't need to compromise, because you have nothing to threaten us with. You can not hurt her, nor anyone else, because she is stronger than you are. She will beat you."

" _THEN THE GIRL WILL PAY. THE GIRL WILL...WILL..._ " The tentacles of fire flickered and died. Michelle dropped from their grasp and floated gently to land on her feet.

" _NO!_ " Gwenhwyvar dropped to the ground, the flames around her also dying.  "No. I will not give up the most powerful host I have ever possessed. Not for this foolish sentiment! Not for this..." She gave a strangled cry and fell back on the grass. Slowly, a heavy mist rose up from Cassandra's form and began to float towards the watchers.

"The trap!" Daniel shouted.

Teal'c reached into his bag and drew out Sam's spirit vessel. A crude casket of gold and lead, hastily-formed from scrap metal, solidly welded into a rough cuboid. The Jaffa opened the hatch on the front of the box, exposing the core; a battery-powered signal emitter, coated in the auric oxide from the coffin. By modulating the frequency of the emitter and passing the signal through the residual energy fields on the powder, Sam had created an transmission the effect of which was immediately apparent. The mist began to turn, changing direction to move towards the trap.

As soon as the mist was clear, Llew and Sam dashed to Cassie's side and sank down beside her.

"Llew?" Sam asked.

The young man looked his lover up and down and smiled. "Alive," he assured Sam. "Alive and strong." He leaned down and kissed Cassie on the brow, then gathered her into his arms.

On wobbly legs, Michelle watched this tender scene play out. Her heart ached to see the closeness between Sam and Cassandra.

"No!" Teal'c called out.

The mist trembled, and once more it changed direction, floating swiftly towards Michelle. The girl looked up and cried out in alarm. She stepped away, but the mist moved swifter. It wrapped around her and she felt a chill as the vaporous form began to sink into her skin.

With a sudden wrench, the mist snapped away from Michelle once more. It thrust towards her again, but flinched as though struck. That was all the pause which Teal'c needed to cross the distance and hold the trap right up to the mist. Without a sound, the vapour was dragged into the box, filtered through the sand and was hidden away. Teal'c shut the box, and it sealed with a snap.

Michelle sank down in shock.

"Michelle!"

The girl looked up and saw Sam leaning over her, a look of desperate concern on her face.

"Michelle! God; say something, kiddo. I almost lost Cass; I'm not going to lose you!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Michelle croaked, her voice hoarse from her screaming.

Sam gathered her up and hugged her, tightly. "Oh, sweetie," she sobbed.

Behind them, Cassie struggled back to consciousness in Llew's arms. "Hey," she whispered.

"Hey," he replied.

*

_Cardiff International Airport,  
Six days later_

Jack was happy. He was happy because everyone he cared about was safe. He was happy because Cassandra had assured him that she had never doubted his affections for her, and done so in such a tearful and sincere fashion that not even his most paranoid side could doubt her. And he was happy because Angharad's return to her own work the day before meant that he was able to drive the new people carrier down to Cardiff himself, at something less than warp speed.

"You know we can stay a little longer," Sam offered.

"No, really," Cassie insisted.

"Or you could come back home now; both of you; if..."

"That's very kind of you," Llew said, "but really, we're fine."

Sam looked at the two of them in concern. Although they seemed well, they stood a little apart from each other now, and she had not seen them holding hands since Dr Banerjee had given them both a clean bill of health. "If you're sure," she said, giving them one last chance.

"We're sure," Cassie insisted.

Llew nodded his agreement. "We'll go back to the site with Karen tomorrow, and we'll be extremely careful; we promise."

"I'll take good care of them," Karen assured Sam.

"She'll be okay," Michelle added, taking hold of Sam's hand. "Dr Aughisky will look after them."

Karen blushed a little. "Call me Karen," she insisted.

"Sorry about your stuff, by the way," Jack said.

Karen shrugged. "I've got plenty left; the coffin alone is a hell of a find, even without the contents." She grinned. "Besides; if I'm right then the village which originally occupied the Llantisilly site was relocated somewhere close by. I plan to make a comprehensive survey of the area, basing myself at that old house. Looks like quite a decent place to live, and the owners have accepted a disgustingly low offer. Funnily enough, they seemed to think it was a ruin."

"It seems like a big job for one woman," Jack noted.

"I'm taking Phyllis on as a full-time research assistant once she gets out of hospital."

"How is Phyl?" Cassandra asked. She had not dared go and visit the woman herself.

"Well, the transfusion of my blood is doing her the world of good," Llew replied. "Without saturating her blood with nanites she isn't healing as well as I do, but it seems to have helped the natural process along nicely. She'll have a bit of a scar and they think her voice might gain a little husk."

"I suggested she should start singing jazz," Jack noted.

"But is she...okay?"

Llew shrugged, helplessly. "Well, she still has the feeling you were there when it happened, but she seems to have chalked that up to imagination. She has no idea why she did it and that scares her, but her boyfriend was up on the first train from Carmarthen; that seems to have helped put her mind at ease."

Cassie shivered. "I was still mostly in control then," she said. "Gwenhwyvar must have somehow reached out to attack Phyl without me knowing it. She probably...I wanted to get rid of Phyl. Just for a moment, my jealousy got the better of me and I felt...something. She used that feeling to..."

Llew smiled, gently. "It's not your fault."

"I should have known..."

"So should I. She blindsided everyone. Gwenhwyvar was very cunning. Speaking of which, you've definitely got that thing safe, haven't you, Teal'c?"

"I shall hold it until it is secure aboard our transport," Teal'c assured them, laying a protective hand on the bag which contained Gwenhwyvar's tomb.

"Speaking of which, let's get that done," Jack suggested. "Take care, Cassie."

"You too, Jack." Cassie hugged the Colonel, then Teal'c.

Jack moved on and shook Llew's hand. "Look after her, Llew."

If the physical distance that had emerged between them was symbolic of anything deeper, Llew gave no sign. "Always," he said, seriously.

"Take care, Cassandra," Sam said, holding the girl close. "And you look after Llew," she added in a whisper.

Cassie smiled. "You know I will. And you do realise that he can hear a whisper at twice this distance?"

Sam blushed. "I did know that, yes. I just forgot."

Llew shared another respectful, understanding nod with Teal'c, then moved to stand in front of Michelle. "Well, it's been good to meet you," he said.

"And you," Michelle replied, shyly.

"Yes," Cassandra agreed, with a wry smile. "Sorry about...almost killing you and stuff."

"'S'okay." Michelle threw her arms around Cassandra and squeezed her tightly. "I'm sorry for all the nasty things I've thought about you."

"That's alright," Cassie replied, putting her arms around the younger girl. "I've been a bit of a bitch myself." There was a long pause, until at last Cassie coughed, uncomfortably. "Um...Michelle? Getting weird now, sweetie. You can let go now."

"Sorry." Michelle backed off, blushing, and gave Llew a shorter hug.

"Look after yourself," Llew told her. "And don't worry. She does care, you know."

Michelle shot a fond look at Sam. "I think I see that now. Just leaves the other thousand-and-one problems to deal with."

"Welcome to the world."

In order to give the three adolescents some space, Sam moved to say goodbye to Karen. "So...It's been..."

"It's been great," Karen assured her. "Do come back and visit some time."

"I...sure," Sam said. That would be great of course, and..."

Karen chuckled. "Relax, Blue-eyes; I promise to behave. I would like to talk to you about divining though; it's rare to meet a scientist as open-minded as you."

"I'm sure I'll be in touch," Sam promised.

Daniel hugged Karen, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Of course, you'll always be welcome in my house," she told him. "You know; if you need to talk about 'things'. Unless...Unless there's someone else you can talk to about those 'things'."

"There is," Daniel admitted. "It's not what you're probably thinking, but there is someone I talk to. Not anyone you know," he added.

"Come on, guys," Sam said. "We'd best get going. It's an Air Force plane and it won't leave without us, but if we wait much longer the Colonel will just get into a blazing row with Air Traffic Control."

"On our way," Daniel promised.

"I'll catch up," Michelle promised. "I just want to say goodbye to Dr Aughisky."

"Well..." Sam began.

"Sure," Llew interrupted. "We'll walk you to the gate," he offered. Cassie gave him a questioning look, and he replied with a glance that she knew to mean he would explain himself later. The two of them scooped up Daniel and Sam between them and gently guided them away.

"Just hurry," Sam called back.

Alone, Michelle faced Karen, fidgeting nervously. "Dr Aughisky..."

"Karen, please. Aughisky is just an embarrassing reminder of my pretentious past."

"Karen. It was you, wasn't it?"

"What was?" Karen asked, innocently.

"I felt something strike Gwenhwyvar when she had become a mist. That was you?"

"It's a kind of gift," Karen confessed. "Usually it makes people trip over things; stumble a little. Pretty limited as psychic powers go. Nothing compared to walking in dreams."

"It didn't feel limited," Michelle said.

Karen blushed. "Anything that only has the power to hurt is limited," she replied. "Still...If you need to talk to someone who understands, or if you need any help with your abilities, you give me a call and we'll arrange for you to come stay for a while."

"You...you mean that?"

"Absolutely. I feel kind of bad you know," Karen admitted. "Trapping her like that. It must be horrible to be so..."

"Limited?" Michelle asked. "All she could do was hurt people; she was already limited."

"Touché."

"Look after those two for me."

"Will do," Karen agreed. "Have a safe trip and a happy life, Michelle."

*

_Newport_

Cassie lay on her bed in the Holiday Inn, staring up at the ceiling. She wished for a moment that some vestige of the powers which Gwenhwyvar had awoken in her had remained after the departure of the malicious spirit, but she was just plain Cassie once more. Bereft of ESP and telepathic senses, she had no way of knowing why it was that Llew seemed awkward around her now; why he was reluctant to touch her; and why he barely seemed to speak to her.

She was taken from her reverie by a knock on the door; firm yet somehow polite.

"Come in, Llew!"

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," she replied.

"I guess we need to talk."

"Yeah." Cassie sat up on the bed and motioned for him to be seated. He took the chair by the little desk. "So," she said. "I...I couldn't help noticing you've been avoiding me. You know...Everything I said to you, that was her. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course. I know you, bach; you don't have a cruel bone in your body."

"I don't know if Michelle would agree."

"So you can be a right cow sometimes," Llew admitted. "Who isn't? I'm no saint, you know."

"Then what...? Are you disgusted at me?"

Llew almost laughed in his shock. "What?"

"Seeing me like that. Are you disgusted by what I could become?"

"Gods, no!"

"Then why...?"

"Cassie...You should know by now that each time I see you go though the fire, I love you more. I'm sorry I've been avoiding you, but I couldn't help it. My mother and Sam were around us so much; Teal'c and Daniel looking in on us to see if we were okay. We haven't had a moment to ourselves and...Well, I tell you, Cariad; I was fighting off Gwenhwyvar for days, all told. It wasn't easy, you know. I'm just about at the end of my tether to be honest and if I let myself get too close...I just wasn't sure I'd be able to stop," he finished, shamefaced.

Cassie stared at him for a long moment, then she started to laugh. "That's all it was."

"Don't laugh. You think it's been easy? I feel like I'm about to spontaneously combust sometimes."

"I wouldn't want that on my conscience," Cassie giggled.

"I just wanted everything clear," he said, reaching out and taking her hand.

A jolt shook Cassie's arm, a physical reaction to Llew's touch that was so violent, so powerful, that she almost jerked her hand away in astonishment.

"It is," she whispered. "Clear."

Llew Smiled. He dropped her hand, stood up and opened the door. Cassie's heart rose into her mouth. She wanted to call after him but seemed unable to do so. But instead of leaving, Llew took the little cardboard sign that said 'Do Not Disturb' off the inner handle and hung it on the outer before closing the door again and turning to meet her eyes.

Cassie swallowed hard. "Llew. We're in a Holiday Inn in the heart of the hole that is Newport."

"So?"

"It's just not very...special; is it?"

"I think I was getting a little too hung up on what was special," Llew confessed. "You're here, Cariad. That's special enough."

And then he kissed her.

And she kissed him.

And it was.

**Author's Note:**

> Casualty – for the benefit of American readers – is the UK's answer to ER; or perhaps vice versa. Running since 1986, it features good-looking medics dealing with the intersection of ongoing personal traumas and swiftly-resolved medical crises in a busy London Accident and Emergency department. Each week starts slowly, with day-to-day hospital life juxtaposing with shots of assorted civilians, all begging to have a nasty accident as some of them inevitably will. 'Spot the victims' is a favourite game for social watching.
> 
> There is in fact no Holiday Inn at Cardiff International, but never mind, eh.


End file.
